


Til Death To Us Part

by cophinebrohaus



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-06
Updated: 2015-03-09
Packaged: 2018-03-10 17:15:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 31,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3298082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cophinebrohaus/pseuds/cophinebrohaus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Carmilla comes back to town for Will's stag night.  Things turn out a little different than she was expecting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> http://8tracks.com/yourmumsgardener/til-death-do-us-part-a-carmilla-fic-mix there's a cheeky playlist if you're just starting to read this fic!

“It’s good to have you home sis!” Will clinked shot glasses with his older sister, a smile that stretched ear to ear decorating his face.

“What?” She smirked, “You think I’d miss your wedding?” Carmilla slung an arm around his shoulder as they both downed what had to be their thirtieth shot of the night.  The club lights began to fog as her vision became increasingly blurred due to the alcohol infiltrating her system.

It had been three years since the girl had been home; she was never a fan of small cities.  The Big Apple had been her dream from the age of sixteen and she wouldn’t trade it for the world. Flooded streets, loud lights, intoxicating fumes, those were just a few things she needed in her life, those were just a few things that New York had to offer to her. When she arrived that morning to an almost empty airport in her miniscule home town, the longing to return back to her city apartment kicked in instantly but was soon drowned out when Carmilla realised the reason she was there.

Her younger brother Will was getting married and she’d be damned if she missed it.  Their mother had abandoned the two as soon as they both turned eighteen, Will had been gifted the house whilst Carmilla left to live the bigger life.  Mother? Well, god knows where she was.  The Karnstein’s weren’t a particularly large family and any other relatives they had weren’t kind enough to reply to the wedding invites, Carmilla was all the boy had and she refused to let him down.

“Shots or death!” Rang a booming voice that belonged to Will’s best friend Kirsch.  He stood to the side of the siblings ordering another line of shots.  He’d been the one to drag the stag party out at three in the afternoon to start the celebrations.

“You’re lucky you’ve got two weeks until the big day, Willy boy. “ Carmilla gulped down shot number thirty one.  “The hangover we’ll have tomorrow is going to be ground breaking.” Her words started to slur out but the smile on her face didn’t falter.

“I challenge the groom to,” Kirsch drummed his hands on the bar before shouting even louder, “Beer pong!”

The group travelled across the downtrodden pub to a table tennis set up that had been taken over by the drinking game on the surface.  Every red plastic cup was filled to the prim with, what Carmilla assumed, to be retched ale. 

“Let’s see what you got, meat loaf.” Will positioned himself at one end while Kirsch drunkenly stumbled to the opposite end to face them.  Carmilla found herself a spectator as the two threw ping pong balls across the net.

“You’re cheating.” Kirsch grumbled after having to down his second cup in a row.

“Seven years of college basketball my friend.” Will easily tossed another ball into a cup that was closet to Kirsch and lapped up the aggravated look that crossed the taller boys face.

Finally the big puppy gave up when he felt his knees buckle underneath him and his stomach churn.

“Okay, okay.” He mumbled, “You win.”

“Cee, you’re next!” Will pointed dramatically at his sister as she stood from the bar stool and took over Kirsch’s position.

The match was close but Will came out victorious once again.  Carmilla came out of the game completely polaxed.   If the shots hadn’t given her alcohol poisoning, the beer definitely did.

“Hey, take a seat little hottie.” Kirsch tried his best to steady her as she swayed from side to side but she pushed her hands against his chest in defence.

“I’m good, I’m good.” She insisted.

“I need the bathroom.” Her speech was even more unrecognisable but she didn’t care, all she cared about in that moment was finding the nearest toilet before her bladder gave way.

She stumbled to the back of the bar only to find a dim light hovering over a “Out Of Order” sign that was stuck to the girls bathroom.

“Hey!” She got the attention of the bartender and angrily gestured to the door she was holding herself up with.

“Sorry, you’re gonna have to use Jonny’s bathroom.” He looked scared to death at the five foot something girl as she banged her fist in frustration on the wall.

Jonny’s was about a two minute walk from the current bar they’d found themselves in almost all night and if Carmilla was being honest with herself, she didn’t know if she could make it two minutes.

Not wanting to risk losing anymore time, she hauled herself towards the front doors of the establishment. 

“Carm!” She heard her brother shouting to her across the room, “Where’re you going?”

He began to run over to her but she waved her hand to stop him.  Taking a deep breath to manage her next words out with and also to hold down the vomit that was threatening to come up she shouted back.

“I’ll be back in a second, I’m using Jonny’s toilet.”

Will wavered a little in his spot, watching his sister leave the bar before heading back to his group of friends, most of them he met in college.

“Now, where were we boys.” He smirked at the lads who looked like they were all about to pass out.

“Shit.” It became apparent that she’d made the wrong choice of not bringing a jacket out with her, the sun was burning her from head to toe when the boys picked her and Will up earlier that day so she found that the garment would have simply been unnecessary.  That was until she felt the cool breeze of Friday night hitting her arms with such force that the goose bumps that lived in her body were dragged from their home and up onto the surface of Carmilla’s skin.

The two minute walk turned into a five minute dander as Carmilla’s feet barely picked the right places to land on the ground.  All of her concentration was needed to make it not even a mile down the street.  The heeled boots she wore on her feet didn’t make it any easier for her either, her whole outfit seemed to be against her tonight.  The lacy black crop top and leather pants didn’t offer her any warmth at all, that thought brought her straight back to curse herself for not bringing a jacket.

The argument that continued in her head almost caused her to fall down on the concrete but by chance, a strong arm gripped one of her biceps which steadied her completely.  She turned to find the Neanderthal grinning in front of her face.

“Will told me to come keep an eye on you.”

“I don’t need a bodyguard dimwit.” She sighed at the sight of an overgrown toddler accompanying a few yards down the pathway.

“Think of me as an escort.”

“Shut up Kirsch, just wait outside.” She wacked her back into his chest as he stood at the glass double doors that led into Jonny’s cocktail bar, the fancier drinking establishment of the town.  Taking another deep inhale, she pushed the left entrance open and almost burst inside.

Surprisingly, this place was booming with customers.  Carmilla had left about three weeks after the place was opened and even then it wasn’t as busy as this.  Usually the first week of a club opening is the best so it was a strange sight to find the building packed wall to wall with sweaty drinkers.

Bathroom, where the hell is a bathroom.  It didn’t take Carmilla long to find the female toilet sign, she felt like a group of angels were going to come out from behind her and start chanting “Hallelujah.”

“There is a God.” She whispered to herself setting off in the direction of the facilities.

For the toilets of a night club, it was unusually dead.  Something that made Carmilla look to the ceiling and thank whoever was looking down on her with this blessing.  Not wasting another minute, she burst into a cubicle, struggled with her pants and finally, FINALLY released the contents of her bladder.

“You’re such a lightweight.” Carmilla heard a voice outside at the sinks, they were almost hard to make out due to the overbearing music that pumped in from the dance floor.

“J-Just one more?” She heard a girl burst out laughing at, what Carmilla could make out, nothing really that funny.

“Laura, sit down.” Another voice entered the room, this one seemed much more stern than the two before.

“Pleeeeeeeeeeeease.” The obviously drunker of the three moaned.

Carmilla emerged from the stall just at that moment to find two gingers looking pointedly at each other whilst a honey-brown haired girl slumped against the sinks.  The red heads were the only ones to look up at Carmilla when she graced their presence.

“Someone’s had too much.” Carmilla couldn’t help it, she loved tormenting people.  Especially ones who found themselves in situations like these.

“Go get her some water honey.” The curly haired girl patted, what looked like, her significant other on the shoulder in a panic.

Instantly they left the bathroom and Carmilla watched the two girls left from the side of her eyes as she washed her hands.

“Laura,” The angry one patted her on the face. “Laura!”

“Perry, you’re the best. You know that?” ‘Laura’s’ eyes were closed as she rolled her head involuntarily, a goofy grin plastered on her face.

“Oh no, oh no.” ‘Perry’ stood away from the girl and began pacing the floor.  She kept checking her watch every two seconds. “God damn, what’s takin- Excuse me?” Carmilla looked up from the hand dryer to see the curly haired woman looking at her.

“Yes?”

“Could you do me a huge favour, could you loo-, make sure she isn’t sick until I come back.  I won’t be a minute.” Carmilla could have said no but the last good deed she had done was about a year ago and one good dead a year seemed plenty for her. 

The dark haired girl tossed a hand at the frantic woman in front of her as if to say ‘go on’.  Perry did just that, running out of the room to go in search of her friend who had yet to come back with the water she requested.

“Hey,” Carmilla waved a hand in front of the girl, “Hey cutie. You need to wake up.”

“Dad, not today.”

Carmilla tried not to laugh but it was impossible.  This was the funniest thing she’d seen all night and that’s saying something.  Earlier, Kirsch ran head first into a hillbilly knocking both the beers out of his hand.  The look on the boys face was priceless.

Carmilla clicked her fingers in front of the girl’s eyes and by chance, it worked.  Laura’s eyes flitted open and her grin widened to an even goofier expression.

“You look like an angel.” Laura rocked forward and her forehead collided with Carmilla’s shoulder. “I’ve never seen an angel before.”

“Well, aren’t you the charmer.” Carmilla smirked before pushing the drunk back up into a position where her neck wouldn’t feel like it was hit by a truck the next morning.  It did no use, the girl rocked forward and this time collided her forehead with Carmilla’s.

“Ow.” They both winced but Laura didn’t move her head.  Instead, she reached out and wrapped her arms around the stranger’s neck pulling her in close.

“Hey, hey, hey.” Carmilla tried to free herself of the hold of the girl but it was pointless, for being so tiny she was extremely strong. “You’ll actually have to charm me first cupcake.” She smirked as the girl planted kisses on her cheek.

“Just on- one.” Laura hiccupped.

This was everything Carmilla stood against, people taking advantage of drunken party goers yet here she was face to face with an extremely cute woman and the niggling thought in the back of her head wouldn’t go away.

“Just one.” Laura inched closer to Carmilla’s face.

“You’re drunk cup-“ Well there went her morals. 

Laura had pulled her close enough to slap her lips onto Carmilla’s.  Wrapping her legs around the leather suited woman, Laura slid her tongue into the girl’s mouth before biting down gently on her bottom lip.  Carmilla’s breath hitched a little as she rested her hands on Laura’s waist letting the girl play with her mouth.  Laura’s eyes flickered open for a few seconds to get a good look at the woman who was currently tugging at the back of her hair.  They closed again when she felt a smooth hand slide up the side of her ribs.  Forgetting where she was, Laura shrugged off her jacket and bounced down from the sinks, pushing Carmilla against the door of a cubicle.  It was her turn to touch.

She let one of her hands travel from the girls neck down to her breasts before gripping at her shirt.

“You’re a good kisser.” She mumbled.

Carmilla couldn’t help but laugh into the kiss, this was so very wrong but it was as much fun as she was going to have in the small town.  Plus, who didn’t love a compliment even if it did sound like something a freshman would say.

“Laura!” Perry’s voice caused the two to practically jump out of their skin.

“P, there you are.” Laura let a giggle escape from her lips as Carmilla backed away from the smaller girl.

“Well, have fun with that one.” Carmilla muffled as she attempted to escape from the bathroom as quickly as possible.  The two gingers shot her death glares as she passed them on her way out.

That was unexpected.

She was used to picking up girls on a night out but the women in New York were a lot different from the ladies here.  Where she came from, the women had a air of mystery, one that she had picked up after a year of living there and attending the after parties that her band were usually invited to.  They were able to grip you in a certain way, a way that made you want to come back for more each time but here, the girls were simpler.  Cutier.  Definitely cuter, Carmilla thought as a smile played on her lips. 

She found her way out of the bar and grabbed Kirsch by his beer stained t-shirt.

“Let’s go idiot.” He stumbled a little bit to match her step as she took off back to the bar where she was going to find Will and the others.

“Hello, sorry excuse m- hey!” The familiar voice resonated throughout the street and Carmilla recognised it instantly.  She planned to continue walking without looking back until Kirsch stopped in his tracks completely.

“Laura?” He was facing the girl now.

Carmilla watched him walk towards the tiny human.

“I didn’t get her number.” Laura drooled, the words were so slurred Kirsch could barely make them out but he knew she was talking about Carmilla.  He turned back to the black haired girl who currently stood, awkwardly swaying in the spot.

Just at that that moment ginger twins came running up behind Laura.

“Kirsch, what are you doing here?” The short haired one asked.

“I was walking Carmilla back up to the bar.”

“Wait, you know each other?” The gingers turned to look between the stag party members.

“Yeah?” Kirsch didn’t understand why everyone was being so weird. “This is Will’s sister.”

Carmilla approached the four of them slowly.

“You know her?” She cocked an eyebrow between Laura and her brother’s friends.

“Dude, this is Laura.” He let out a confused laugh when Carmilla's face didn't seem to register the name. “Will’s fiancé.”

“Shit.” Perry spoke for almost everyone.


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the one where Laura and Carmilla awkwardly meet for the second time

“Hey.” A groggy voice lulled its way into Laura’s ear as she felt a hand wrap its way around her waist.

“Hey,” Her voice was sleep covered when she turned to face her fiancé, “What time is it?”

“Four thirty.” Will planted a small kiss on her forehead, then trailed his mouth down to the side of her neck.

“What time did you come home?” Laura felt her entire body regret the hen night she just had, her stomach was threatening to throw up the contents inside and her head felt like it had been bulldozed.

“About twenty minutes ago,” He didn’t lift his mouth from the crook of her neck, the kisses coming steady, “Kirsch wanted me to stay at his place but I couldn’t wait any longer to see you.”

He felt a small laugh come from above him and a tiny smile curved the corners off his lip up into place.  This was a smile he held only for the girl that lay beside him, a smile that he didn’t know he had until the first day he met her back in high school.

Laura had always been special to him.  She was a little dorky sure, but that just made her even more adorable.  The guys had laughed at him in the locker rooms when they asked who he was into to and he replied with the nerd who spent her lunch times reading up on the latest Doctor Who news. 

_It took him four months of silent admiration before he got the courage to speak to her, it wasn’t the smoothest approach but it was an approach after all._

_“It’s Laura, right?” A sixteen year old Will balanced himself against a locker as he spoke to her._

_“Yeah, Will?” He smirked at being recognised yet began to subtly shake due to the fact that this conversation was actually happening. “Is anything wrong?”_

_“No, no.” He coughed to clear his throat; he didn’t know when it got so clogged. “I was just wondering if you had tickets for this weekend’s game.  It’s the cup final.”_

_“Oh.” She looked mildly confused. “I don’t really- I’m not big into sports.” She looked apologetic, it was strange of the boy to ask but she couldn’t help feeling like it was a friendly gesture._

_“Well, if you’re not busy later, we can grab something to eat after school and I can tell you how it works?” This was it.  He’d made his move.  All his chips were on the table and he anxiously waited for the girl to reply to his offer._

_“Sure, I’ll have to check with my dad first but that sounds nice.” Laura couldn’t believe it.  Will was one of the hottest boys in school, every single girl she knew, which wasn’t very many if she was being honest, craved his attention yet here he was, practically asking her on a date.  The thought that it could be a sick joke crossed her mind but the way he was looking at her made it hard for her to believe that he was cruel enough to do such a thing._

_Sure enough, her dad agreed to letting her attend the date and from then on in, it was destined between the two.  Will made her feel like she was the only girl in the entire world.  He would pick her up in his beat up machine that he called a car (Laura thought it was adorable and named it Thirteen’) every morning and drop her home every evening.  Even Papa Hollis seemed to like the boy, which was super weird considering the fact he warned Laura no boys until college._

_Sunday mornings were reserved for the two males to bond over the football games or basketball games that were happening while Laura lounged on the sofa eating the breakfast that her dad made.  It was like she was living the dream of every girl in a 1980’s film._

_They both attended different colleges when the time came and it was a massive strain on their relationship, Laura met different people that she may or may not have began to like but she always returned to Will.  How could she not? He was her best friend on this entire planet and she couldn’t bare to hurt him._

_He had booked them a holiday to London shortly after Graduation.  The first three days were filled with tour busses and train rides on the tube and visiting Buckingham palace but the fourth day was the most memorable.  Will had booked a table at the most beautiful restaurant Laura had ever seen in her life.  Their seating arrangements were on the outside balcony close to the four piece string band that set the mood for the big question.  When Will got down on one knee, Laura almost sung out the yes._

_When they got home, she rounded up her best friends from college, Perry and LaF to help her with the wedding arrangements.  They skyped almost constantly to book venues or food, the only thing Laura did herself was pick the dress._

_It killed her walking into the shop on her own; she’d always imagined her mother sitting waiting on her to emerge from the dressing room with the gown flowing around her body.  Instead, she twirled for the girl who worked in the shop._

_“Oh my god, you look- wow.” Elsie, the owner of the bridal shop contained the tears she had in her eyes.  Laura wanted to hand her an Oscar because she was one hundred percent sure she done this to all the costumers.  None the less, she bought the gown and headed home with it._

“Babe, I’m tired.” She tried to laugh to make him feel a little less uncomfortable but he looked at her with the eyes she’d seen so many times.  Giving into his needs, she kissed his forehead lightly and picked his chin up to her face to plant a soft kiss on his mouth.  Before going any further, the man reached across and turned out the light leaving them both in darkness.

\---

“I didn’t know it was her!” Carmilla looked at the three idiots who stood with their arms crossed gruelling her about the event that took place earlier that night.  This was the fourth time they had ran it over her that it was extremely strange that she didn’t recognise her own brother’s fiancé.

“Oh come on, it’s your Will’s girlfriend! How did you not know it was her?”  Kirsch ran his hands threw his hair in frustration.  Will was his bro, if he found out about what had happened he would break in two.  He’d been completely lovesick over the girl since Kirsch met him back in their first year of University. 

Since the friendship of the boys began to bud, he’d gotten to think of Will like a younger brother even though it was only six months that separated them in age.  Laura was like a girl-bro to him as well.  Her and Will used to go on double dates with him and SJ, a girl he was dating when he was doing his sports degree. 

Laura was perfect for his best friend.  Will was quiet, Laura was loud.  Will was obnoxious, Laura was sweet.  Will never had a dad, Laura had one that loved him like he was his own.  They’re relationship was anything but toxic, it was exactly what Kirsch thought his bud needed.

“I haven’t spoken to Will in years, not that it’s any of you weasels business, he’s never introduced me to her.” Carmilla was beginning to get annoyed at this point; they wouldn’t let her go back to the house with Will because that’s where Perry had just dropped Laura home. Kirsch had passed it off to him that they all wanted to give the love birds some time alone rather than the truth; that his entire group of friends wholeheartedly believed that Carmilla wanted to start some sort of an affair with his fiancé. They completely ignored the fact that she’d never even met the girl before, Carmilla frequently pointed out to the idiots after her brother headed home.

“We have to tell him.” Kirsch sat down on a one seater facing the trio. “I think you should do it.” He said looking at the broody woman who was slumped back on the red velvet couch.

Carmilla burst out laughing and shook her head.  Was this honestly happening? Was this fuckwit being serious right now? She let the anger return to the features on her face and stood up with such force that Perry jumped back and clung on to LaF’s arm.

“I’m only gonna say this once so fucking listen,” She took a second to look them each individually straight in the eyes, striking the fear of death into their hearts. “Laura was drunk.  I was drunk.  You _all_ were drunk.  We barely kissed and as far as Will goes.  No one tells him, do you understand?”

Perry’s gulp of salvia was audible in the room; a pin could have been heard drop due to the silence it was left in after Carmilla spoke.  She sat back down and threw one leg over the other, trailing her own hand through her hair.

“This is morally wrong you know.” Perry finally caught her breath enough to give the group a life lesson.

“Shut up.” Carmilla spat at her before rubbing her forehead. “Are you gonna call me a cab home or am I going to have to walk numbnut?” Carmilla looked up at Kirsch who had now placed his head in both of his hands. 

“You can stay here for tonight, it’s late and a cab would cost you at least forty bucks.  I’ll drive you home tomorrow.” When LaF spoke, their voice was drained with such energy.  Tonight had been tough on them for more than one reason, they hated clubs so much.  The atmosphere completely sucked the life out of them and on top of that, their best friend had near enough ruined her marriage.

“Fine. Whatever.” Carmilla grunted.

Perry showed her to the guest bedroom where she flopped down on the single bed.  All the arguing had taken it out of her plus she felt an imminent hangover on the horizon.  Once the neat freak had sorted her out with some pillows and extra blankets, Carmilla was left alone to finally wallow in the guilt that had been consuming her since she found out who Laura really was.

Shit, she thought.

How did she not know who she was? She knew Will was dating a girl called Laura; he never shut up about her when he was in high school but she’d never seen a picture of her.  The only thing she knew about her brother’s soon to be life partner was that she worked in journalism. 

This wasn’t her fault; it was an accident, a mistake.  She repeated that sentence over and over in her head because if she didn’t, the dangerous thought of how much she enjoyed touching the girl’s lips, her body, her hair, would have creeped onto the forefront and that was definitely not an option. 

An hour passed and finally sleep enveloped her.  She dreamt about nothing and that honestly didn’t bother her at all, a clear head was what she needed before entering into a new day.

\---

“Coffee?” Natalie, their maid, floated into the kitchen to find Laura slumped on the table pillowing her head on her arms.

“Please.” She replied.

Never was she going to touch alcohol again because in that moment, she felt like death was upon her.  Every part of her body burned with pain, especially her forehead which had the weirdest little bump right on the left hand side.

“Rough night?” The server handed her a fresh cup of black caffeine and as Laura pulled herself up, it hurt to nod at the young girl.

“Good morning.” Will bounced down the two steps into the kitchen offering Natalie a small smile and placing a kiss to the side of his bride-to-be’s head. “I’ll take breakfast later; I wanna get to the gym before the yoga moms arrive.”

Laura tried her best to elevate her lips but it hurt to do anything with her face.  The only thing she had energy to do then was shout a quick ‘bye’ when Will left the house.

“Do you want breakfast?” Natalie had already taken out the frying pans and the ingredients needed to cook up a greasy fry.

“I’d love some eggs right now.” What Laura really craved at that moment was a plate of cookies and a hot mug of Earl Grey tea but she didn’t want to turn down Natalie’s friendly offer.

“Forget your keys?” She shouted when she heard the door open again, Will was never one to remember things.  Thank God he had her because she had a memory of a hard drive.  When he didn’t answer her, she turned on the kitchen stool and stretched to get a look into the hallway. 

Standing at the coat rack was a slim figure whose back was decorated with dark curls that floated down from the tip of her head.  The woman shrugged off a jacket that Laura recognised as LaFontaine’s?

“Hello?” Laura began to curiously approach the girl that had seemingly broken into her house.

“Hey.” When the voice replied to her greeting, Laura felt a shiver run down her spine, when the voice turned around to face her, the shiver almost broke her back.

She remembered that face, how it slipped her mind baffled her but now it was all coming flooding back.  The way this woman had gripped her hair ever so slightly and kissed her in a way that she’d never been kissed before, touched her in a way that she’d only ever seen on television. 

Carmilla instantly knew that Laura was processing her.  She couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming surge of guilt coming on again. The way Laura looked so shattered when she realised what she’d done was heartbreaking.

“Forgot my keys.” Will pushed open the door and his mouth brimmed ear to ear when he seen his two favourite girls.

“Hey! I wasn't going to formally introduce you guys until I got back from the gym but," He paused before grabbing Carmilla and pulling her into his side, showcasing her to his girlfriend.  “Laura, this is my sister Camilla.”

Laura’s face broke even more.

She picked it back up just as quickly, there was no way she would have a plausible reason if Will asked her why she looked so upset.

“Uh, hi.” She threw her arm out, “Nice to meet you.”

Carmilla played along; she took the hand easily and shook it once.

“You too.” She turned to her brother, “I didn’t get much shut eye, I’m gonna hit the hay.” She had to get out of that hallway, she feared if she was trapped one more second under the tension of the space that her skin was going to melt off.

“Find yourself someone to go home with last night, eh?” Will smirked as Carmilla bounded up the stairs, taking two at a time.

“She’s a lady killer,” Laura’s face flushed hot when Will spoke about his sister, he flexed his arms a little jokingly “Runs in the family.” Laura faked a laugh and quickly turned to the hall side table to pick up his keys.

“I’ll see you when you get home, don’t pick up too many yoga moms.” Nice.  Play it cool Laura, she thought.  Will lapped up her performance and left her a few seconds later.

Okay. So she kissed her fiancés sister.

No big deal, right?

Oh shit who was she kidding.  This was a _massive_ deal.

She paced the hallway for five minutes thinking of anything she could to defend her actions but nothing came to mind.  She knew she was in the wrong, so so so in the wrong.

Without thinking, she reached into the pocket of her pyjama bottoms and pulled out her phone searching desperately for the number she needed.

 **Laura (11:34):** COME TO THE HOUSE. ASAP. EMERGANCY. I NEED YOU.

 **Perry (11:37):** 10 mins sweetie

All she could do now was reside to the living room and pray to God her best friend had some sort of explanation of the night before.  The gaps in her recollection of the worst mistake of her life were beginning to frustrate her.

It took Perry exactly ten minutes on the dot before she rang the door bell of the town house that Laura lived in.  LaF had always pointed out to her that maybe they should think about upgrading to a real family home rather than life their lives cooped up in a two bedroom apartment that had a living space barely big enough to home the couch they both so dearly loved.

Perry never thought twice about the comment, she loved their little space with all her heart.  It reminded her that they’d done it all themselves, they’d bought everything on their own without any help from anyone else and that’s all she really wanted in life.  Independence and a soul mate.  She had both and wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Laura pulled her over the threshold in a matter of seconds after announcing her presence.

“In here.” Laura hushed Perry into the living room and then threw herself down on the couch.  Perry lifted her feet up from the bottom end and sat down, allowing Laura to slide her legs back down onto her lap.

“Perry, I’m in so much trouble.” Laura’s hands fell onto her face, she wanted to scream into them but she knew she couldn’t.  The girl who was causing her this pain was directly above her sleeping and the last thing she wanted to do was wake her up and have to confront this matter head on.

“What’s happened?” Perry knew the exact reason Laura was so upset but she needed to hear it from her friend’s mouth.

“You know what’s happened!” Laura shot up, folding her legs under her.  Her face was bright red and Perry thought she was going to cry.

“Laura.” The curly haired girl pulled the little one into a massive hug, slowly stroking her hair.

“What am I gonna do, Per?”

“Just forget it ever happened honey.” Perry didn’t want to say it but after the warning from Carmilla the night before, she felt inclined to do as the girl said.

“What?” Laura removed herself from Perry’s hold, starring at the girl wide-eyed.  She wanted to ask her twenty personal questions to make sure this was the real Lola Perry because for as long as she knew the friendly ginger, that was something she never would have said.

“I mean, it was your hen night.  Boys do crazy things on their stag nights so why can’t us girls? You love feminism come on.” The words burned her lips as she spoke them, Perry hated lying and she especially hated cheating but this was the only way she thought the problem would go away.  Carmilla had confirmed that she wasn’t going to utter a word about what happened between her and Laura so if Laura agreed the same, the issue would be resolved, right?   She could only hope.

“You can’t be serious.” Laura looked dumfounded.  She had kissed someone else thirteen days before she was getting married, that’s like a moral sin or something.

“It was one kiss, Laur.” Perry reached out to stroke her hair again, Laura let her.

She fell back into Perry’s arms and let the girl comfort her.  Maybe her friend was right.  What Will didn’t know wasn’t going to hurt him. But what if he did find out?

“What if she tells him?”

“Trust me,” Perry didn’t want to tell her the whole truth, again something that burned her heart but it was for the best, “She won’t.”

Laura didn’t question Perry’s faith; she closed her eyes and tried to mentally prepare herself for the next two weeks.  If she could manage avoiding the girl upstairs in the house until the wedding, everything would be fine.  She could do this.

The doorbell interrupted the two girls who were enjoying the silence of one another.  Perry stood up to answer it leaving Laura to concentrate on not having a panic attack on the couch.

“I’m here to pick up Miss Hollis?” A man’s voice could be heard from the door.

“Laura!” Perry called her friend into the hallway.  When Laura arrived at her side, she found what seemed to be a driver standing on her porch.

“Can I help you?” She asked.

“William asked me to drive you to your dress fitting” when Laura shot him a confused look he double checked his booking card, “I’m a bit early.  I can wait in the driveway.”

Laura didn’t question him and simply shrugged at Perry.

“I’ll catch up with you later sweetie, text me if you need help with _you know who_.”  

“I owe you one Per.” Laura left her with a hug before running upstairs to change into clothes that wouldn’t make her look like a slob who sleeps in until two in the afternoon.

“Shit.” Carmilla dropped the glass of water she had in her hands when Laura collided head first into her.

“Oh God, I’m sorry.” Laura tried to brush the water off her but when she realised what she was doing, her cheeks reddened and she backed off.

“It’s alright cutie, no harm done.” Carmilla wanted to suck the words back in as soon as they came out.   She was so used to addressing women with pet names that one slipped out at the worst possible time.

Laura awkwardly wavered around for a few seconds before whizzing past the girl and into her own room.  As soon as she entered the space, she let herself slump against the door for a few minutes trying to catch her breath.

“Smooth L.” She muttered to herself.

Remembering the man outside, she found a grey tank top lying on the floor.  Matching it with a pair of jeans and taming the matt that was her hair, it took her less than ten minutes to find herself presentable.

Bounding down the stairs, she almost collided with the second person that afternoon.  The driver had returned to the door and was just about to knock on the glass as Laura opened it.

“Sorry, I forgot to give you this.” He handed her an enveloped that had her name scrawled on the front of her card. Opening it, Will’s handwriting took over most of the white space.

_I know you’ve always wanted your mom there but Carmilla has been a mom to me, she’ll take care of you. I’ve arranged a brunch for you both before your fitting._

_Enjoy, lots of love,_

_Will xxx_

 

Fuck.


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the one where they attend brunch and the dress fitting

“What’s your soup of the day?”

“Vegetable”

“I’ll have that.” Carmilla folded up the leather menu she held in her hands and gave it over to the bleach blonde waitress whose attention fell solely on the dark haired woman that sat in front of her.

“And for yourself?” Both women who sat at the table noticed the almost pain the waitress went through when she had to fill the duties of her job and take Laura’s order, causing her to pry her gaze from Carmilla.

“I’m fine, thanks.” The broody twenty-something year old pointed an eyebrow upwards at Laura whilst nonchalantly leaning back into the booth, dismissing the waitress’s attempts to engage in playful banter.  Once she finally left the two alone, Laura pushed herself forward towards Carmilla, half covering her mouth with her hand as if she didn’t want anyone to see her converse with the girl.

“You know, we don’t have to do this.”

“Do what?” Oh come on, Laura couldn’t help the disbelieving expression take over the features on her face, was she seriously going to ignore the huge elephant in the room?

“You know!” Even though it was her intention to keep the conversation on the DL, Laura’s voice rose to a dangerously ‘outdoor voice’ level.

“Calm down sweetheart, you’ll give yourself a hernia.” Carmilla’s lips formed a smirk which drove Laura’s nose to scrunch up, something Carmilla found absolutely hilarious.  

Everything that the tiny girl had done since they arrived at the upscale restaurant seemed to amuse her to no end. First it was the nervous bouncing of her leg when they were driven to the place, the obvious attempt to make the space between them as wide as possible and then personal favourite, the reddening of Laura’s cheeks every time Carmilla and her accidently touched.

Laura had to take six deep breaths on the spot to calm herself down.

“I don’t know what kind of a sick human being you are,” Carmilla’s smirk faltered a little at the sentence coming out of the mouth of the woman facing her, “But I-“

“Stop right there.” The smirk was completely gone now. “ _You_ kissed me buttercup, _you_ made the first move, _you_ pushed _me_ against a bathroom stall.” She made a point to tap the surface of the table with one of her fingers each time she mentioned the person at fault.

Laura’s face winced at the description of the event.

“Let’s not play the victim here, I really don’t like blame games.” The smirk returned with these words.  Carmilla knew she was being harsh and she felt just as bad as Will’s significant other about the betrayal but the last thing she was gonna do was let this girl put the whole guilt on her shoulders.

“Yeah, well it takes two to tango.” If there was any moment in Laura’s life that she could choose to be swallowed up whole and taken to the underworld beneath her feet, it would be the moment she finished that sentence.  Carmilla had to purse her lips together in an attempt to stop herself from laughing, that was not what she was expecting in response but hey, she’d had quite a lot of unexpected occurrences these past two days.

“One vegetable soup.” When the blonde returned and set the bowl down on the table, she practically cut the tension between the two women with her slender arm. “Anything else I can get you?” Her hip let her balance herself against the table as she tried her very best to seduce the girl she was serving.  Laura was completely excluded from the exchange by the way the waitress positioned her back to her face.

“Not right now,” Carmilla was enjoying the scenario at this point, “But I’ll be sure to call you if I need something.” The waitress practically exploded with the response she was given but had to leave the table when another customer beckoned her.

“I’m glad you’re having fun.” Laura waited until the worker was gone before engaging back into the somewhat argument.

“If you have something on your mind cutie, I’m all ears.” Carmilla could sense that Laura was just waiting for the perfect opportunity to indulge them both into the wrongs of their situation; she felt it was better just to get it over and done with as quickly as possible.

“Are you going to tell him?”

“You really get right to the point, don’t you?” Carmilla took a bread roll from the side of her plate and began to cut it in two.

This was simply frustrating, there was no other way to put it and Laura was on her last nerve at this point.

“No.” Carmilla gave in, she felt satisfied with the amount of time she had toyed with the girl and saw it was the right time to settle her down before she self combusted. “Are you?” It was something she hadn’t bothered to ask and the knots in her stomach registered that maybe she should have, because now the ball was on Laura’s side of the field.

They both exchanged a look, neither saying a word.  Laura bit down on her bottom lip, something that Carmilla tried not to find as distracting as she did, before answering.

“No.” Carmilla slowly let out a breath she couldn’t remember holding for so long, “But that doesn’t mean I think what we done was r-“

“I don’t need a life lesson cupcake.” She’d gotten her answer and frankly she didn’t care too much about what Laura had to say on the subject after.  She could finally relax and finish her meal in peace.

Laura had no idea how this woman was possibly related to Will.  He was so caring and sweet whilst Carmilla was extremely aggressive and frankly, quite rude.  If her fiancé hadn’t introduced her himself, she would have believed that Carmilla was an imposter. 

**Perry (12:51):** How’s it going?

Laura’s phone buzzed in her pocket, she made sure to hide the screen from Carmilla as she typed back a reply to her friend.

**Laura (12:51):** I think i might kill her :@

Carmilla knew that she was being talked about via the joys of 21st century technology by the way Laura almost broke the glass on her phone, angrily tapping on its surface.  She didn’t really care too much however, the soup was good, the company could have been better but she was weirdly having an alright time for being stuck back home, it wasn’t as bad as she thought it was going to be - aside from the little nips of guilt she got every time she thought about the fact she kissed her brothers fiancé. They didn’t really phase her that much though. 

That was something that always made her ponder her morals in life; somehow she was able to overlook her faults to a point where she could completely ignore them.  Sure, some people would say that’s a good thing but it would be nice, she thought, once in a while to be able to feel a little bad about things.

“Will told me you write for the newspaper.” Carmilla spoke up after trying out the soup for the first time, the silence made her shift in her seat a little and if she knew her brother, he would be questioning her for her approval later on.  It would seem a little suspicious if she came back knowing nothing about his soon-to-be-wife after spending practically the whole day with her.

“Yeah.” Laura didn’t know how to take the sudden interest.

“How’s that going?” Small talk was not something she participated in often but she tried her best to lighten to mood, it was beginning to dampen her afternoon.

“I’m up for promotion this month.” Laura straightened up, a proud gleam in her eyes.  Carmilla made an impressed expression in hopes of getting the girl to explain further.  The more she talked the less Carmilla had to. “They want me to apply for an internship in New York if I get it.”

“Sounds interesting,” Carmilla lied, “Good luck.” Keeping up the conversation was harder than she thought.

“How about you?” Laura continued it for her, “Will never really told me a lot.” Her voice dragged off as she realised she could be implying that the girls brother didn’t mention her, which he didn’t, not that often anyway.  The first time she heard about Will’s older sibling was three months ago when he told her that the girl would be attending their wedding. 

“I’m a musician.” Carmilla bit the head of the bread roll, table manners slipping her mind.

“Oh!” Laura actually looked interested in her job, “What type of music do you play?”

“We don’t really have a genre yet.” Carmilla shrugged.

“We?”

“I play with a band.” Carmilla explained.  As much as she hated the members of her group, she suddenly began to miss the sound of Danny and Betty fighting with each other over melody’s and rhythms.

“Do you have a name?”

“You’re just full of questions.” Carmilla’s face indicated she was clearly amused by the girl, it was kind of refreshing having this conversation, as much as she hated to admit it.  She couldn’t remember that last time she’d actually had a talk with someone that lasted more than five minutes and didn’t consist of meaningless dialogue.

“I’m making an effort.” Laura sat back in her chair, embarrassed by the comment, “Will seems to like you, for whatever reason I’ll never know.” Nice Hollis, stand up for yourself.

“Ouch,” Carmilla raised her hand over her heart, mockingly faking an injury. “That hurt, cruel words scar deep you know.” She let out a laugh when Laura’s face began to pick up with anger again.  If she didn’t plan on avoiding the girl at all costs after this dress fitting, she would have picked working Laura up as a new hobby for the duration of her stay.

“Your brothers getting married, you should be happy. You don’t have to act all cool and disaffected all the time.” Laura huffed, folding her arms over her chest.

“I should be happy he’s getting married to someone who cheats on him?” It was meant to be a joke but Carmilla realised as soon as she said it, Laura wouldn’t understand her sense of humour.

“You’re an asshole.” That was it.  The last straw.  Laura furiously began to grab her belongings that sat beside her and started to move out of her seat.

“Hey look,” Carmilla made the mistake of gently grabbing her wrist. “I’m kidding.”

Laura’s face turned beetroot.  Even Carmilla flushed a little herself.

“You should get better jokes.”  The brunette stopped her dramatic exit and huffed back down into her seat.

They sat in silence whilst Carmilla finished her meal.  She wasn’t even that hungry and finishing up early wouldn’t have been a problem but she felt that they both needed a time out before continuing on to the next place they were visiting.

Laura didn’t look at her once, instead she kept her gaze on the floor or else scrolled threw her phone absentmindedly.  Her wrist still stung from where Carmilla had touched her, she brushed the feeling off as quickly as it came though. 

“Summer Society.” Laura met Carmilla’s eyes for the first time since their interaction.

“Huh?” She had no idea what the girl was talking about and had to wait patiently until the dark haired woman wiped her mouth with a napkin and set it down on the table before she got a reply.

“My band, that’s the name.” Carmilla stated as matter of factly.  Strangely, she did feel a little bad about making her earlier comment.  Maybe getting morals did suck after all.

“Sounds like a college group or something.” Laura didn’t really know what to do with herself now the conversation had started up again, she began to fidget with the bottom of her shirt.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence cutie.” When she heard the nickname and looked up to assess Carmilla’s facial expression, she found a hauntingly genuine smile on her face – one that she couldn’t help but replicate.

Carmilla decided that that was enough of a bonding session and took out her wallet.  As soon as Laura caught sight of the girl removing money for it, she started up with her own purse.  Carmilla was about to argue the rights of who paid the bill but Laura delved into the start of a feminism rant.

“Woah there,” As much as she wanted to soothe the air between them, she really wasn’t up for this sort of conversation, “Half and half, okay?”

Laura agreed.  They didn’t bother to call the waitress over to pick up the bill from her, instead they left the money on the table and Laura was one hundred percent sure that Carmilla left her phone number somewhere amongst the change.

\-----

“Per, she’ll be fine.” LaF had been trying their best to calm their girlfriend down but it was no use.  Perry had been pacing the floor of their apartment for the past hour since she left Laura’s house.

“You heard what she’s like! She’s horrible and rude and now she’s with-“

“Per.” LaF had moved from the couch and had now wrapped Perry up into a massive bear hug.  They loved Laura as much as the next person but they knew Perry adored the girl like a sister. 

“She’s just been so happy and I don’t want anything or anyone to ruin her wedding experience.” Perry let them hold her close to their shoulder, the natural smell of LaF always somehow lulled her into a sense of security, the way her chin fitted perfectly into the crook of their neck reminded her of how lucky she was.

“I know babe, I know.” LaF ran loose fingers through Perry’s ginger locks.

“Maybe we should just go over and check on-“

“No. Perry no.” LaF had pulled Perry back a little, enough to let her know that this was a really, really bad idea that she had suddenly concocted in her mind.

“But what if-“

“Laura’d text you if she needed you.”

“I hope you’re right.” Perry sunk down onto the red velvet couch and threw her feet up.  She could only hope for the best.

\-----

“So what? You just show up and expect me not to act like this?” Elsie’s screams could be heard from the back room where Laura had taken shelter. 

“How was I to know you’d be here?” Carmilla’s voice could be heard, she was taunting the girl. “I didn’t pin you for fashion Els.”

“Is there a problem?” An elderly woman appeared from the staff room behind the counter and smiled at her employee and the costumer she was grilling.

“No.  We’re fine grandma.” Elsie had to speak through gritted teeth.  She feared that if she didn’t, something would come out of her mouth that she never wanted her grandmother to hear.

“Elsie honey, could you go sort the fabrics out.  My hands are getting a little tired from boxing them up.” The old lady’s tone was practically forceful.  Elsie didn’t go easily; she made sure to give Carmilla her best death look before storming in to the staff room and slamming the door behind her.

“Sorry about that,” Carmilla played innocent to the lady’s apology. “She’s a little on edge these days.”

The two exchanged a look before the silence became a little tense.

“So,” The elderly woman spoke up first, “Your here for the fitting?”

“Yep.” Carmilla crossed one leg over the other, sliding a hand into the ripped jeans she had pulled on when rushed from the house without notice. “Not me, I mean, the bride’s in there.” She nodded her head towards the fitting rooms and the woman she spoke to gestured for her to follow her up the two little steps.

She found a round cornered couch in the main area and sat down on it, again crossing her legs.

“I’ll go get the shoes to try for length honey.” The old woman shouted into Laura who was undressing.  Carmilla looked away from the stall where her soon to be sister in law was, even though it was completely covered over with a curtain.

 She never pictured herself doing something like this.  Since she was a child, she had never really been close with her brother.  Sure, they got along alright but she wasn’t prepared for him to spring on the sister role when she came home.  He was a completely different person since she had last saw him.  He acted differently, less defensive or something, she thought.  Maybe it was due to the tiny ball of energy that he was about to pledge his life to.

Even the thought of Will getting married was super weird.  He wasn’t wrong when he said lady killers run in the family, before he met Laura, he always had a different girl around at the house.  Even when he was with a girl, usually he had another hiding up his sleeve somewhere.  Laura seemed to have changed him in the best way possible.  That thought caused Carmilla to blow out a sigh filled with guilt about what she had done.

“Uh,” Laura poked her head around the curtain. “Did Mrs Wicks come back yet?”

“Nope.” Carmilla didn’t look around to the girl when she asked the question nor when she gave a reply.

“Could you-“ Laura’s voice trailed off and when Carmilla had to search for the rest of her sentence, she found Laura nodding backwards into the fitting room. 

“What?” Carmilla’s voice was a little shaky.

“The dress.  Can you button me?”

Carmilla composed herself with a cough to clear her throat before standing up and wavering over to the dressing room.   When she entered, she made sure to keep her gaze firmly on the ground.  It was only when Laura coughed herself did she realise that she was just standing there motionless.

“Alright.” Carmilla began to join the complicated button pattern that almost started from the bottom of the white frock.

“Did you honestly date Elsie?” Laura fought with herself before asking the question, she was simply curious.  Plus this was meant to be a bonding exercise, right?

“I wouldn’t have called it dating.” Carmilla smirked as she reached the half way point of the dress.

“What would you have called it?” Laura twisted her lip between her teeth.  She felt Carmilla fasten the last button on the gown and turned to face her slowly.

“Fucking.”

Both of their breaths hung in the air.  Their proximity was an almost replication of the night they met.  Neither spoke.  Carmilla found herself taking an exclusive look at the dress, it was beautiful on Laura.  Every part of her body was cupped just right by the fabric.  Laura wasn’t unaware of the girl’s gaze dragging down her torso.  When their eyes finally met again, Laura’s breath caught a little in her throat.

She’d never really gotten a good look of Carmilla.  As much as she searched, she couldn’t find a trace of Will in her face.  They were completely different.  Will’s features were rough and ragged whereas every part of Carmilla’s face seemed to fit just right.

“I’m the bridesmaid.” Perry’s voice interrupted the fitting room session, “Yep. Hollis.”

“I don’t like your friend very much.” With that, Carmilla exited the changing room and left an open mouthed Laura Hollis who had now found herself in an extremely dangerous situation.


	4. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the one where things get kinda complicated

He wouldn’t even notice if she left.  He was so busy recently getting things ready for the wedding that she was sure she could slip out of the house in the early hours of the morning undetected and get the hell out of there.  Of course it crossed her mind that this could ruin the relationship between herself and her sibling, thoughts burst like flashes into her brain that maybe he would think she was just like their mother.  Those thoughts were pushed away again when she remembered the reason she was leaving.

Carmilla had a bad habit of picking up an interest in people who were unavailable.  Ever since she could remember, any girl that she liked was either in a relationship or married.  She didn’t know how to stop herself, she thought that maybe it was to do with the fact she enjoyed the chase and the excitement but this, whatever _this_ was, was certainly not enjoyable nor did it provide her with any excitement.  The only thing it made her feel was utter guilt that consumed her completely at the most unexpected times.

She didn’t mean to find herself in the situation.  She never asked for it to happen to her and the only thing she could do was to get herself out of the mess she made.  If Will didn’t contact her for three years, surely he wouldn’t miss her conversation that much.  He had his friends and Laura.

Her stomach twisted saying the name in her head.  Since she left the bridal shop, the whole journey home was agony.  Why does she have to do this to herself? There was no real reason behind her actions apart from simple lust. 

As she picked up her clothes from the floor in the guest room and shoved them into a bag, Carmilla fought with her brain to shut off.  She knew that once she settled back into her own bed in New York, any thoughts of this little trip home would evaporate and she could go back to having the on-off relationship she very much enjoyed with her flat mate. Laura wouldn’t exist there. She’d become a faded memory that would someday be wiped from her thoughts.

Fuck, who was she kidding?

This would never go away, the feelings maybe but not the guilt.  One day, Will would turn up at her front door with his wife in hand and possibly two little kids trailing behind them, complaining to their parents that they didn’t want to go see the weird aunt who sent them socks and hats for Christmas.  It was inevitable that this girl was never going to disappear for good, maybe she should have told Will.  That way she’d never have the regret of lying to her brother and she’d probably never have to see Laura again.

“Fuck!” She couldn’t find her favourite shirt, it had gotten lost amongst the piles of clothes that she had carelessly flung around the room on arrival.  This whole process was strange to her, she never thought twice about her mistakes but now it feels like that’s all she can think of.  Carmilla had no energy left to search anymore, in a swift motion she had flopped herself down on top of the single bed and flung an arm over her eyes. 

What the fuck was she gonna do?

The one thing she couldn’t do was waste time, remembering that, she hauled herself up again and began to pack once more.  Nothing was folded going into the bag, the amount of ironing she was going to have to do when she got home was going to be ridiculous but that was a problem for another day.

“Hey?” Shit.  Busted.  Carmilla turned to see Will leaning against the frame of the door.

“Hi.” Honestly, she had nothing else to say to him, she couldn’t even look him in the eye at this point.

“You decided to come!” His face perked up as he scanned the bag his sister was packing and she her eyebrow rose in confusion.

“What?”

“The cabin? I thought Laura would have told you earlier.  Kirsch suggested it.” Will didn’t give her time to answer, his phone had distracted him and he made his way back downstairs leaving Carmilla with only, “7am sharp!”

So much for sneaking off in the middle of the night.

\---

“Catch!” Kirsch hauled a pack of beer through the air and it almost knocked Lafontaine down when they somehow managed to catch it in their arms.  They were surprised it didn’t break bones, they were so accident prone. “Put it in the trunk, I’ll help Perry down with her cases.”

Perry didn’t pack lightly.  In fact, if she could have picked their whole apartment up and strapped it on to the top of Kirsch’s car, she would have.  Instead, she settled for three cases, LaF’s clothes, her clothes and a bag full of “ _little extras that they made need.”_

LaF took the opportunity when Kirsch left to claim shotgun.  She’d gotten a text from Will ten minutes pervious to inform them that the sister from hell was riding with them.  There was no way they were going to spend the two hour car journey sitting next to little miss Ball of Doom.  They knew Perry wouldn’t be so happy about it either but with Laura’s convincing that she wasn’t as bad as she seemed, their girlfriend had decided to put the past behind her and tolerate the woman.

LaF wasn’t so sure what changed Laura’s mind.  I mean, one minute she’s texting Perry with a death threat aimed at the girl, the next minute she’s defending her against Perry’s judgements.  But that was Laura, she never really wanted to say a bad word about anyone.

“Sweetie,” Perry had emerged from the front of the building and was climbing into the back seat, “Wouldn’t you like to sit here? I mean there’s much more leg room.”

LaF laughed at her attempts to get out of the seating positions but as much as she loved Perry, which was a lot, she didn’t love her enough to swap places.

“It’s cool here, I like the view.” Perry folded her arms across her chest knowing there was no point of even arguing.  She was stuck.

“Buckle up bro’s, let the party begin.” Kirsch had started the engine and began to pull out of the drive way.

\---

“I thought she would have enjoyed the time alone, it’s the first time she’s been back in a while.” Laura’s hand was rested across Will’s on the gear stick and she squeezed it once.  She hated lying to him but there was no way she could easily put ‘I didn’t want your sister to come to the cabin because I kissed her and things are awkward.’  

“Carmilla loves the cabin, our mother used to send us here when we were kids.” Will’s gaze appeared to be drifting from the road as he recalled his childhood memories but when they neared a sharp left turn on the road, his concentration picked up, “She hated the town.”

Laura didn’t know what to reply, she had learned not to pry when it came to his mother.  Instead, she turned her eyes from Will and leaned her head against the window.

“Hey. I know you where just being considerate.  You always are.” Will’s words burned Laura’s stomach.  He was always so loving and this is what she gave him in return.  How she was going to spend the rest of her life living with this was unbearable to even think about.  He deserved much more than this, more than a wife that held secrets from him.

“Could we stop at a restroom?” Natalie cut the air from the backseat.  Will decided it was best to bring someone that could actually cook, there was no fast food places close to the little house they would be staying at and everyone who was staying there didn’t have the best culinary skills.  Natalie was kind enough to agree.

“There’s a bar just a couple miles down.” Will smiled at the maid from the front mirror and she returned it.  Laura stayed silent biting her lip with only thoughts of Carmilla running through her head.

The moment they shared in the fitting room was haunting her.  She couldn’t forget the way her body started to shake the second Carmilla touched her skin.  It was like the graze of her fingers jumpstarted Laura’s heart, she was completely vulnerable to it.  And as much as she hated to admit it, if Perry hadn’t of came in, she would have probably kis-

“Here we are.” Will pulled the car to the side of the road, parking up outside the country drinking place.  He turned off the engine and jumped out with Natalie needing to use the facilities himself.  Laura remained inside the vehicle alone with her thoughts. 

Deciding it was best not to resume the previous ones she was having, she took out her phone and plugged it into the speakers. 

_You and me, we made a vow_

_For better or for worse_

_I can't believe you let me down_

_But the proof's in the way it hurts_

The lyrics resonated within Laura so deeply she almost jumped to change the song as soon as it began.  The last thing she needed right now was her distraction to be anything but.

This time she wasn’t going to take a chance with the shuffle button on the phone.  Finding her favourite band, she let the One Direction album soar out through the speakers and she relaxed back  into her seat erasing all thoughts from her head and listening to solely the beat of the music.

Natalie returned to the car before Will, Laura didn’t find it in herself to pick up a conversation with her.  When her fiancé did return, he held a bag of chips in his hand.

“Thought you’d be hungry.” She smiled at him weakly before accepting his small gift.  It was just like him, he always put her first. 

She didn’t bother opening them up, instead she listened to the hum of the engine roar to life and returned her head to the window, watching the bar pass them by as they started up once again on their journey.

\---

“I swear, if you don’t turn that over right now I _will_ do something dangerous.” Carmilla was almost bursting from the back of the seat, the only thing keeping her tamed was the seat belt that pushed into her chest.

“Calm down hottie, it’s three against one.  Infernal stays on!” Kirsch ignored the ball of anger in his back seat and turned “From Paris to Berlin” to the maximum volume.  Perry didn’t care much for the music either but as she watched LaF bob her head furiously in time with Kirsch’s as they danced to the song, she couldn’t help but grin.

Carmilla sunk back, pulling one her legs up to her chest.  This was honestly the worst way possible she could think to spend her time.  Never in her life had she had to spend time with such imbeciles, she would trade a night in with Danny and Betty over this car ride from hell. 

“Woah!” Kirsch sung the lyrics out so furiously everyone thought he was going to crash the convertible but he seemed to manage to keep them safely on the road. 

“That’s it.” Carmilla unbuckled her belt and reached forward to cut the music.

“Dude!” Lucky enough the road they were driving on was completely dead and Kirsch was able to safely come to a stop. “Not cool! We could have crashed.”

“I warned you meatball.” Carmilla smirked at his panic before returning her body to the seat.  LaF stared wide-eyed at the girl confirming to themselves she was in fact completely crazy.  They instantly turned on the radio and lowered the volume not wanting another almost accident. 

“Happy?” They asked.

“Very.” Carmilla smiled to herself knowing that the rest of the trip wouldn’t be filled with the tones of the naughties.  The smile soon faded when she realised what they were driving towards. 

She tried to reassure herself that the cabin had enough space around it for her to wander in hopes of hiding from Laura.  They hadn’t spoken since the bridal shop and she didn’t really want to explain what happened.  She didn’t mean for the words to come out of her mouth, she was so used to being uncensored that she’d never had to think about an explanation for her actions.

It was pathetic that a girl like Laura could make her feel like this, Carmilla didn’t _do_ girls like her.  Any woman Carmilla found herself with were always able to met her dominance level and test her to her limits, they were always able to keep her on her toes. 

Maybe it was down to the thrill of getting caught, even her roommate, as dull as she was, kept her entertained with the game they played.  El’s boyfriend had never once caught them and Carmilla knew he never would, still, it was exciting enough for her to continue the sexual relationship.

“Snacks anyone?” Perry held out a container filled with sandwiches she’d made for them.  Carmilla refused but LaF reached back and grabbed enough for themselves and Kirsch who took his share quickly.

“So.” Kirsch tapped lightly on the top of the steering wheel, “You and Laura?”

Carmilla’s head snapped up so quickly, she could have given herself whiplash.

“There is no ‘me and Laura’” She quoted him using her hands for extra exaggeration. 

“I mean Will. You guys really aren’t going to tell him huh?”

“No. Neither are you.” Carmilla thought the last warning she gave the pea brain would have been enough to shut him up completely but clearly the idiot didn’t understand.  He got it this time however, Carmilla’s tone caused the hairs on his arm to stand.

\---

Laura imagined it would be beautiful from the way Will described it but she hadn’t expected this.  When they pulled up along the drive way, it was lined with the most multicoloured garden she had ever seen in her life.  The cabin itself was incredible for such a basic build, the slightly darkened oak wood contrasted with the little cobblestone cornering of the design. 

She was preparing herself for a cosy two room structure but when she discovered the inside, it was like a real life Tardis, four rooms could be seen upstairs from the living area that was led out from the main hallway.  The strangest art hung on the wall, pictures that Will told her came from his mother’s love of the gallery’s she spent time in as a girl. 

“Down here is the bathroom.” Will tried to grab her attention as he gave her a mini tour of the place but Laura couldn’t help but gaze at the beauty of the house.  She found herself wandering towards the back of the building to a set of glass doors, ones that let the outside shine though perfectly where she could see the cutest little lake that was surrounded by reeds and stones covered in moss along with a half a mile long fishing dock.

“It’s beautiful.” She let her mouth pick up to express her fondness of the place, words didn’t seem to fit right on her lips then.

“So are you.” Will had crossed over to his girlfriend and wrapped his arms around her waist.  He planted a small kiss on the side of her head and in the moment, Laura forgot all of the things she had done in the past week and turned to him, returning the kiss on his expectant lips.

“Gross, get a room.” Kirsch threw one of his lighter bags at the couple as he entered the building, closely followed by Lafontaine who was undoubtedly struggling with the bags Perry had let them carry in for her.  Laura’s memories resumed and she couldn’t help but notice that Carmilla was nowhere to be seen.

She didn’t have search for her anymore when Natalie called them together to collect orders for dinner.  Laura wasn’t that interested in food then, her mind turned to the outside and she longed to explore a little.  Will saw it in her eyes as they trailed from window to window and he finally nudged her arm as if to give her permission to leave.

She took the invitation and headed out the way she came.

The first place she planned to investigate was a smaller building just a few minutes away from the cabin, she was able to see it in full view once she’d walked down a little pathway that stretched off the house.  It looked something like an old shed but the way it was decorated on the outside with natural vines stretching along its side intrigued Laura enough to look inside.

This was possibly the worst decision she’d made so far.

Once she’d pulled the door open she found Carmilla slumped over a stool, a burning cigarette in hand, flicking through what seemed to be a photo album.

“O- Sorry.” Laura closed the door as quickly as she had opened it feeling like she had just intruded on a personal moment.  She felt glued to the spot and the only thing that moved her was the door prying open again.

“Shouldn’t you be inside with the rest of the Brady bunch?” Carmilla had joined her out in the open space, taking a draw of her cigarette.  Laura noticed that she somehow looked different from the last time they saw each other which wasn’t all that long ago.  Her features weren’t as full of distain in the light of the countryside, they looked much calmer and her eyes seemed to glisten with a peacefulness of some sort.

“I wanted to explore before dinner, I’ve never really seen the countryside.” Laura shoved her hands in the pockets of the jeans she was wearing and wanted so desperately to give into the imaginary force that was pulling her back to the house but instead, she rested back to lean on the door of the shed.

“Well,” Carmilla flicked her cigarette onto the ground and stood on it to put it out, “It hasn’t got anything much to offer cupcake. You best get inside before Willy boy starts wondering if the mountain bears got you.”

“Aren’t you coming in?” She knew Carmilla was avoiding her, heck she wanted them to keep their distance but her mouth seemed to disobey her brain every time it decided to open. “Natalie’s serving dinner soon.”

“I’m not hungry.” Carmilla began to open the shed door again and she took herself inside, resuming her position on the stool and lifting up the photo album once more.

“You don’t have to avoid me you know.” There is goes again, Laura’s whole body was simply refusing to follow orders when it spun her around and rested its shoulder against the door. 

Carmilla didn’t reply with words, a simple scoff was enough for Laura to decide that enough was enough.  She took a small step inside and closed the door behind her, taking a deep breath that was needed before her making her speech.

“This is crazy.  We can’t keep pretending like nothing happened because with the way we’re acting, all of this,” She gestured between them insinuating the avoidance of the pair, “Will’s gonna know something’s up.”

Carmilla’s face heated up, she hated herself for it but the truth was anytime Laura mentioned what happened between them, her face burned like the tip of her cigarettes.

“I’m going to tell him Carmilla. He deserves to know.” Laura hung her head in defeat once the words were out.  It was a sudden decision but one that she had been flipping around in her brain for the past twenty four hours.  Since their incident at the bridal shop, it was clear to Laura that she was attracted to her fiancés sister but she knew it was simply the excitement of it all.

 If she told Will, the excitement would be taken away from the situation and instead would be filled with the enviable argument that would come about; one Laura knew she could fix if she explained what happened in the right way.  Well, she hoped she could fix it.  Her conscience was eating her alive, she couldn’t lie any longer and she knew Will well enough to agree with herself that they could overcome this small bump in the road.

In the midst of all these thoughts, she didn’t notice Carmilla slamming the photo album down on the small bench beside the two seater couch that just barely fit in the shed.  The dark haired girl almost rushed at Laura, reaching over her arm and slamming the door tightly shut before beginning her warning, one she was sick of giving.

“No. He doesn’t.” Carmilla didn’t back away after closing the door tightly shut, she thought the intimate distance between them would work in her favour by intimidating Laura but all it really done was set off bursts of goosebumps along her body.  “You’re acting like a child, stop being so naive. Telling him would be irresponsible.”

“I have to.” Laura’s voice was barely a whisper; she didn’t have enough strength in her body in that minute to muster anything louder.

Carmilla was the first to move after the thirty second silence that filled the room.  She backed away on her heel before slumping down on the couch.  Her face fell into her hands and she let one of them brush her bangs out of her face. 

She couldn’t protect herself anymore, that was what she was doing each time she’d forbidden a member of the group to keep the secret.  She knew that a stern voice and a harsh gaze wouldn’t be enough to change Laura’s mind.  The girl was vulnerable and lacked a certain punch to her character but it was clear by some of the things she had witnessed Laura do, she was headstrong and nothing Carmilla could say would change that.

“When?” Laura lifted her head up to meet Carmilla’s question.

“I don’t know.” The tinier girl allowed herself to sit on the wooden stool.  “When we get home, before the wedding.”

They both let themselves linger in the shame of what they had done.  Finally Carmilla had enough of the pity party, she moved from her seat and left the shed without a word.   Laura didn’t follow her inside until it was almost dark.

“Hey!” Will interrupted his conversation with Natalie in the kitchen and began to wipe his hands on a towel that lay on the counter when Laura entered the cabin, “You missed dinner, I was about to send out a search party.”

His arms had snaked around her waist and while his lips planted a kiss on her forehead.

“There’s still some left if you want me to plate it?” Natalie called behind them.

“No thanks, I’m gonna take a shower then head to bed.  I’m so tired.” Laura had wriggled from his hold and had started to make her way towards the hallway that the bedrooms branched off in.  She ignored the rest of the group who had made themselves at home on the couches inside the living room.  Even Carmilla looked comfortable sitting with her friends; she tried to avert her eyes as much as possible from the girls stunning side profile.

Will didn’t call her back, instead he shrugged at the unusual behaviour of his typically perky girlfriend and let her do her own thing.

Once inside the ancient washing facility, Laura let herself cry for the first time.  Her life was such a mess and she had no idea how to tidy it up.  The thing that pained her the most was that she wasn’t just crying about the thing she had done but rather the things she wanted to do.  Laura let herself admit that she was drawn to Carmilla, that she thought about kissing her again, that she imagined what it would be like if the circumstances were different.

She can’t really remember what it was that kick-started these feelings, all she knew was that they were there and no matter how much she wished them away, they had built their own little shed in her head and didn’t plan on leaving anytime soon.

Finally, she managed to pull herself together and walk out of the cubicle into the bathroom were she took an extraordinarily long time to dry herself off.  She had heard Will enter the bedroom half way through her shower and knew he would be waiting for her in bed.  She couldn’t let him know she’d been crying, he’d have too many questions and she wasn’t ready to provide the answers just yet.

“I don’t think any of them plan on sleeping tonight.” Laura could feel Will’s smile on her neck when she snuggled up beside him in the king size bed.  She turned to face him hoping that there was an inch of her body that could push her to make their normal bedtime conversation.  It didn’t come out when she found his eyes.

Instead, she kissed him.  She kissed him with such force that he pulled back a little to question her with a raised eyebrow but she ignored it completely and found his lips again.  Laura needed this.  She needed to feel normal again; she needed to remind herself that this was the man she had been in love with since she was sixteen.  It started to work the minute he pulled one of her legs across his torso.  Her thoughts evaporated and she was completely consumed in the moment.

That was until he broke their make-out session and reached up to turn the light off.  In a matter of three seconds the mood was completely gone and everything filled straight back up in Laura’s head.  When Will returned to kiss her, it was passionless.  She watched as he took off his clothes, doing the same for herself and she let him clamber on top of her.

As he made love to her that night, she felt like the act was anything but making love.  Instead, it was an hour of staring into Will’s eyes and seeing only his sister’s.

It was 5 am before the house was quiet again.  Everyone had found themselves  a room and were fast asleep unlike Will’s predictions.  Laura lay beside her snoring fiancé drowning herself in her thoughts.  Once she felt it was safe to do so, she snuck out of their room and headed for the porch.  Some air was just what she needed. 

She was about to sit down on the little hanging bench when she noticed a dim light in the distance.  Laura debated with herself for at least five minutes before making the decision she was going to take a walk.

She found exactly what she was expecting to find when she entered the shed.  Carmilla was draped along the couch, her feet hanging over the edge of it with a book in her hand.

“Shouldn’t you be tucked up? It’s late.” Carmilla’s eyes didn’t shift from the book she was reading.  When Laura didn’t reply, she felt it was necessary to investigate. 

“You told him.” She sat up, resting the book beside her.  Laura didn’t reply this time either.  Carmilla was beginning to get worried and found herself standing.

“Laura?” It was the first time she’d used her name but she felt it was necessary; the girl wasn’t moving or speaking.  Carmilla was sure that Will was about ten seconds behind her ready for a brawl, if that was the case she’d love a heads up.

Laura’s face began to shift, Carmilla watched as she chewed on her lip and prepared herself for the answer she’d been patiently waiting for.

Instead of an answer from Laura’s lips, she got the brush of them on her own.  The brown haired girl had stepped forward in an instant and one small peck was all they shared before Laura pulled back from her.  Carmilla couldn’t find the words she needed to question Laura’s motives, the girl didn’t give her time to question anything before she reached up to grab the back of Carmilla’s neck and pull her back in.

Neither of them resisted.  Carmilla grabbed at Laura’s waist, crushing them both together.  As much as she wanted to fight the girl off, she couldn’t do it.  She let her mouth open to Laura as their tongues switched places every couple of seconds.

This felt like a dream to Laura, all those times she’d let her mind wander off into careless fantasies about the what if’s scenario’s she’d thought up.  She was made aware that this was reality when Carmilla nipped at her bottom lip and tugged at the bottom of her vest top. Like second nature, she reached down and was about to undress herself when she felt Carmilla’s hand’s slap hers away and bring the shirt up over her head.  Their kiss broke for half a second during this, Carmilla didn’t waste any time resuming it once the girl was topless.

Everything about this moment was animalistic.  The way Carmilla grasped onto Laura’s body and picked her up like she weighed nothing but air, the way Laura wrapped her legs around Carmilla’s waist and allowed her to throw both of them down onto the couch.  How Carmilla practically ripped of her own buttoned up shirt and began to tug down Laura’s pants. 

“Wait.” Laura panted, feeling a bead of sweat form on the top of her head.  She began to lean up and turn the small desk lamp off when she felt her arm being pulled away.

“I want to see you.” Carmilla’s lust filled voice caused the space between Laura’s legs begin to ache yet the genuinely spoken words caused her heart to melt.  Never before had she experienced anything like this, any sexual encounter she had ever had was almost the same.  Boring and practical.   This was so much different.  Each time Carmilla touched her or kissed her, Laura felt like the girl needed her to survive, needed her to breathe. 

The second Laura’s hand was back on Carmilla’s body, each girl took a turn taking off the others bra.  Carmilla gave herself a minute to stare at the woman beneath her.  She ran her eyes along her figure, lingering at the parts she knew she was going to attack the minute she felt it was appropriate to do so. Laura found herself shaking at that point, never before had she been so vulnerable to someone yet for some strange reason, she didn’t mind being inspected by Carmilla.

The taller girl saw Laura shift a little.  She instantly turned her eyes to meet Laura’s, an unspoken question of consent being asked through the gaze.

“It’s okay.” Laura breathed, knowing the girl was waiting on her approval. 

Once Carmilla got the go ahead, she didn’t stop until Laura was quivering above her.  It didn’t take her long to make the girl finish, barely twenty minutes.  She smirked as she began to gift her small kisses along her torso as she made her way back up to Laura’s lips. This kiss was unlike any other they’d shared to date, it was truthful.  There was no desperation or alcohol behind it.  It was simple and pure. 

As they lay curled up against one another, Carmilla felt Laura breath out a sigh.

“So.” Carmilla’s mouth picked up into a dangerously genuine smile.

“So.” Laura couldn’t help but burst out laughing, it was possibly the worst thing to do when you’ve just cheated on your fiancé for the second time with his sister none the less but she didn’t have any control over her body. “That’s _fucking,_ huh?”

The words sounded so innocent coming from Laura, the way she tried to wrap her lips around the phrase caused Carmilla to join in with the girl’s laughter.

She rested her cheek against the top of Laura’s head, knowing this moment would end any second now when Laura realised she’d have to go back home to Will so as he didn’t ask any questions about where she was when he woke up.

“I guess so.”


	5. Chapter Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Wedding.

“I choose him, Carmilla.” Laura was sobbing uncontrollably as she stood in the middle of her bedroom, her wedding dress hanging like a dead weight on her body.

“You can’t be serious.” Carmilla faced her, fighting back the urge to reach forward and shake the tiny girl.  This wasn’t turning out to be the romantic runaway that she had planned in her head.

Laura couldn’t choke out any words in response because the tears that rolled down her face seemed to disallow her vocal chords to move.  She was certain that even though the rest of the group were half way across town setting up her wedding venue, they could hear her crying.

Carmilla refused to cry, she refused to let this girl see how badly she had gotten under her skin.  It was difficult to hold back the water filling in her eyes though; she couldn’t stop thinking about the last ten days or so and how much she believed that things would turn out differently.

                                             

\---

 

“Stop.” Laura suppressed a giggle when she felt a hand tickle the bottom of her back as she stood at the cabin door with Carmilla waving off Will, Kirsch, LaF, Perry and Natalie as they ventured off on their day trip to the closet town.  Perry had insisted that she wanted to do a little shopping before they returned home and the rest of the group decided they would accompany her. 

 

Will knew how much Carmilla hated shopping so he wasn’t surprised when she told him she was going to stay behind, Laura however got a raised eyebrow but a thankful hug when she told him that she was going to hang back with his sister so that she didn’t have to spend the day alone.

 

Little did he know that they had already planned their daily activities.

 

“You’re going to cook?” Laura questioned with a smile when the door was closed and Carmilla had announced she was going to make them both breakfast.  Although, the brown haired girl had to admit that Carmilla did look adorable in an apron.

“Are you insinuating that I’m a horrible chef cutie?” The girl smirked as she opened the fridge to take out the groceries she needed for a gourmet meal she learned to cook from one of Danny’s old flings.  Her smirked turned into a grin when she felt someone slap her ass lightly before they jumped up onto the counter to watch her prepare.

“I’m not insinuating anything.” Laura’s tone was playful even though a cloud over guilt was enveloping them both due to the affair they were partaking in and they both couldn’t help but wish things were different.  Carmilla pushed the thought away and stood back from the fridge, slotting herself in between Laura’s legs.

“Mhm.” She reached up and kissed the lips she had felt more than one hundred times since the night in the shed, the lips she felt during secret walks around the property or the morning she followed the girl into the bathroom where they shared a shower whilst their friends ate breakfast on the porch completely unaware of the going ons inside the house.

Laura didn’t bother to tell Perry anything about the affair, she’d never kept secrets from the red head before but this wasn’t a secret.  This was a deadly sin and knowing Perry, she wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she had to lie about anything else.

Carmilla wanted to tell everyone about what was happening, the past two days she spent at the cabin were possibly the best two days of her life.  She’d watched her friends fall in love over and over again and each time thought to herself how sappy and ridiculous they looked.

But now that she could feel herself tripping each time Laura hummed softly against her cheek or listened to each word she spoke with utter concentration, she didn’t really care too much about how lovesick she must appear.

Although she easily covered her face with her usual disinterested fixture when they rejoined the group after their lovers’ retreats, it was a little hard to hide how she was feeling anytime Will talked about the wedding or planted a soft kiss to Laura’s face. 

The morning after her first night with the girl, Carmilla watched as Will and Laura strolled into the living area hand in hand, greeting a good morning to their friends.  She felt her legs push her from the chair she was relaxing on and throw her out onto the porch with claims streaming from her mouth that she needed to smoke.

_“Hey.” Laura followed her out the glass doors, keeping her distance knowing that they were easily in view of the others.  Carmilla only replied to her with a head nod, she knew that if she tried to utter words the wrong sentence would come out.  She didn’t want Laura to know how much it killed her to see the couple acting so homely._

_“There’s coffee brewing inside if you want some.” Carmilla shook her head once at Laura’s offer, the brown haired girl took that as a hint that Carmilla wanted to be alone then._

Laura didn’t find these moments any easier.  Each time Will hovered over her face waiting for her to shower him with the usual kisses, she struggled to place them correctly.  They felt like she was afraid of picking up cooties from the boy, Will didn’t seem to notice however.  He wasn’t phased by the strange behaviour his soon-to-be wife was showing, probably thinking to himself she was just going through the typical pre-nuptial nerves. 

It killed Laura to be so nonchalant about the whole thing and project herself as a girl who was so excited about getting hitched when in total honesty; she wished she could have a do-over.  If she had of just met Carmilla before, maybe things would have been different.  At this point, she knew that there was no mistaking how she felt about the broody woman.  Once Carmilla let down the guard she had been holding up since the day they met and shown Laura the things that no one else got to see, it was in those moments the tiny girl found herself sinking deeper and deeper into a pool of quicksand that was undeniably love.

“How do you like your eggs?” Carmilla asked as she opened the lid of a crate of them.

“How I like my women.” Laura joked.

“What? Messy and disorganised?” Carmilla raised an eyebrow teasing the girl as she turned on the stove and began to boil a pot of water.

“No.” Laura pulled her back over to the position they struggled to remove themselves out of and wrapped her legs around Carmilla’s waist once more. “Hard on the outside.” She kissed her forehead, “And soft on the inside.” Carmilla laughed softly after Laura kissed her gently.

“Whatever you say cupcake.” She returned to her pot and placed two of the eggs inside.

She could imagine doing this forever.  No one had made her feel like this, made her feel like she could actually do the whole domestic housewife gig but she enjoyed doing things for Laura.  Bringing her coffee when Natalie wasn’t around to make it or listening to the stories she’d tell about how annoying her dad could be sometimes, the stories that Will would never let her finish because he either was too distracted by his phone or something to do with work.

Laura pictured herself in the same way, waking up to Carmilla’s half parted mouth with a little drool running down the side of her cheek and knowing that she didn’t have to stop to look around to check if anyone was coming before wiping it off with her pinky.  She thought about how simple it would be if she didn’t have to structure her affection for the girl with the times Will took himself out for his evening walks.  She fanaticised about getting off work and coming home to find an outfit to wear to one of Carmilla’s gigs and about the day she would meet the infamous Danny and Betty.

They ate breakfast over a conversation on woman’s rights.  Laura found it refreshing to actually have a debating partner on the subject rather than the usual grunts she got when she spoke about the subject so passionately with Will. 

They knew that once they got back home, things would change a little so they made sure to make the most out of their last day in the cabin alone.  Between heavy make out sessions, Carmilla would cook and Laura would provide the useless information she had gathered over years of participating in Journalism projects.  

By the time the group got home, Carmilla was tucked up in her bed whilst Laura hovered around preparing herself to tell Will everything.

The day confirmed for her that she couldn’t go through with the wedding.  There was no way she loved Will enough to marry him when half of her heart was owned by his sister.  She ran it over in her head how she was going to break the news, maybe he would understand and they could part as friends, allowing the two girls to continue their relationship without any problems.  She knew that was a long shot but it was still a possibility, Will wasn’t all bad.

 “Will.” She was waiting for the man to arrive into their bedroom once he finished eating his pre-bedtime snack downstairs. She stopped him before he made his way into the ensuite of their room.

“Yeah?” He had already begun to strip of his shirt.

“Can we talk for a second?” Laura had sat herself down on the bed, her knee shaking furiously.

“Babe,” His shoulders slumped and he wadded his way over to her kissing her forehead. “Tomorrow, I promise.  I’m just _super_ tired and I stink.” He wrinkled his nose when he playfully smelt his armpit and headed back towards the bathroom.

“Okay.” Laura was sure he didn’t hear her but she didn’t care.  She took it as a sign from the gods that now just wasn’t the right time to tell him.

She was breathing deeply when Will returned to the room, he wrapped his arms around her waist and nodded off himself.

\---

“How can you do it? You couldn’t even look at him yesterday!” Carmilla screamed at Laura whilst pacing her floor, the other girl sat on the bed she shared with the man who was to become her husband in less than three hours to fix the buckle on her wedding shoes.

“Please don’t do this.” Her head didn’t move yet she could practically see Carmilla’s expression when she scoffed at the statement. Laura begged her eyes to look up at the woman who was furiously stomping about but they didn’t listen.

“Don’t do this.  Don’t do this? Laura, we’ve been _doing this_ for the past two weeks! And I’m not going to fucking let you do something,” Carmilla had placed her hand on Laura’s cheek to crane her neck up so that the full force of her words could be seen just as well as heard, “That you’re going to regret.”

Laura could see the tears that were fighting to hold their position in Carmilla’s eyes.  She’d just got herself to stop crying yet she felt that just knowing the pain the girl was going through was enough to break her back down again.

“I’m not going to regret it.” The words shook as they pushed ahead out of her mouth and both of them knew it took all of Laura’s strength to utter them.

“Well do you regret us?” Carmilla stopped everything she was doing in the moment, placing both of her hands on her hips.  She’d fought against her better judgement before asking the question she was so desperate for an answer to.

“No! I-“

“Then how can you say you’re not going to regret marrying him?!” Carmilla made her point and was now back to the ticking clock that was hanging over her head.  She had barely a few hours to convince the girl who made her see love for what is it not to marry her brother.

\---

“What are you doing?!” Laura’s mouth was hushed by Carmilla’s hand.  The dark haired girl let out a sultry laugh before removing her hand and replacing it with her lips.  The garage was empty, Will’s car was gone and LaF had borrowed Laura’s whilst their own was in the shop getting fixed up because _someone_ forgot the put the parking breaks on.

“You talk too much.” Carmilla muttered into the rhythm of kisses she had going.  Laura knew she was joking with her, the girl’s sense of humour took her a while to get used to but finally, she’d got a firm grip of when Carmilla was playing around or being serious.

This was definitely not a serious moment.  Laura could feel her partner in crime squeeze her butt gently as she made her way down the side of her neck.

“Will’s gonna be home any second!” She tried to push the woman off her but she knew she didn’t have the willpower to do so.  “Carm!” It wasn’t until she felt a sucking sensation just below her collarbone did she get the strength to separate them.

“What?” Carmilla wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, a smirk playing behind it.

“Seriously?” Laura’s disbelief at Carmilla’s actions only made the girl smirk even more, “A hickey? Are you out of your mind?”

“Oh come on,” Carmilla had stepped forward again, both hands gripping onto the edges of Laura’s jeans. “I just want some part of you to have my name written on it.”

“There is a part.” Laura tried to hide a smile that was creeping up upon her face.

“Really?” Laura knew Carmilla was about to tease her but she didn’t really mind, it was just one of the many things that made her fall for the girl even more, “Where might that be?”

Laura wrapped her arms around Carmilla’s neck burying her face into the pocket between her throat and her shoulder to try and hide the red flushing cheeks that brightened her face. 

“You know.” Laura whispered against her chest, too embarrassed to face the girl when speaking.

Carmilla gently lifted her chin up with one finger bringing their mouths together.  In total honestly, she did know.  She knew that somehow she had managed to invade Laura’s heart and slowly begin to push Will out of it.  With each day that passed in the affair, she began to feel less and less guilty about hurting her brother.  Instead, she fell more and more in love with his fiancé.

Their kiss was quickly broken apart with the clank of the garage door opening.  Carmilla almost tripped on her own two feet trying to put as much distance between her and Laura.  They’d recovered just enough to act as normal as possible when Will’s car entered the garage.

“What did I do?” He smiled getting out of the fancy four by four he had purchased three months ago, “It’s not every day you get a welcoming party coming home from work.” He approached Laura for their usual ‘I’m home honey’ kiss and hug but the girl quickly found herself running for the door.

“I was just getting some scissors from the toolbox, I need to cut a tag of the top Perry bought me!” With that, Carmilla and Will were left alone.  The older sister rocked back and forth incapable of starting a conversation that didn’t begin with ‘I’m boning your girlfriend’.

“What’s up with her?” He locked the passenger door, turning to his sibling. 

“Time of the month. Willy boy.” Maybe not the best thing to say but it did the job.  Will raised his hand to stop her from going any further thinking it was best to leave out the details.  He followed his bride-to-be inside.

“Where’s Natalie? I’m starving.” He threw down the over the shoulder bag that contained his work papers and headed into the kitchen in search of some good homemade grub. When he found the maid preparing his favourite dish, he turned to his sister. “You have to try this, Laura loves it.”

Carmilla instantly imagined the couple sitting down at the dinner table, holding hands and talking over the dish that was being prepared.  She couldn’t stomach it and declined his offer, removing herself from the kitchen and heading for her room. 

\---

“I met you two weeks ago Carmilla, I’ve known Will my whole life.” Laura found herself stronger now, more determined to face up to her wrong doings and put them right.  Will was the man that her father told her about when she was twelve years old.  The man who would protect her just as much as she would he.  The man who would love her the way that a father expected their daughter’s husband too.  Papa Hollis seen something in the boy long before Laura did and if that didn’t tell her that Will was the one, she didn’t know what else would.

“You know me, Laura.” Carmilla had her by the wrists now, it was the closest she came to shaking her without actually doing so. Every part of her being needed the girl to know how much this was hurting her, she needed Laura to see that time didn’t equate to love.  “Two weeks, two years, two decades it doesn’t matter.”

“What do you want me to do!” Her strength left her then, Laura broke back down and she cried.  She cried so hard that she could feel her newly applied mascara running down the sides of her face.

“Don’t do this.” Carmilla had let her go then and moved one hand to wipe the tears away.  She was putting her in such a difficult situation but it had to be done.  If they were ever to have the chance they needed to work, the chance they’d talked about so many times, this _had_ to be done.

“I can’t.” Laura moved away from the touch and pushed past the woman in front of her so that she could fix herself up again.  The car came in less than thirty minutes and she couldn’t show up to her own wedding looking a racoon.

\---

The rain patted their skin like little kisses, Laura’s hair was softly wet but she didn’t mind.  Carmilla’s thumb rubbed gently over the top of her hand and apart from that sensation, nothing else in the world mattered in that moment.

“That’s my favourite one.” Laura pointed with her free hand to a constellation that hung on the right side of the sky.  The way they lined up together seemed perfect, like God himself had drew them on the dark canvas and left them there only for Laura and Carmilla to gaze at.

Carmilla lay there on the roof, completely still, relaxing into the sounds of Laura’s breathing and the comments she made here and there.  Will would return home soon but she didn’t care.  All that mattered right then was the girl who was hooked to her by their interlocked hands.

“Do you do this a lot?” Laura was laying on her side now, her arm draped across Carmilla’s stomach, drawing looping patterns with her fingers on the skin that was uncovered by the black crop that showcased the girl’s toned mid-riff.

“Sometimes.” Carmilla turned her head so that she could take in each detail of the girl under the moonlight. “When I paint, they give me inspiration.  To think how little we are in comparison.”

“You paint?” Laura was taken aback by the information that she just received although the shock wore off after half a second.  She could picture Carmilla as an artist, standing in front of a blank space and filling it with the most intimate pecks of colour.

“Don’t seem so surprised.” Carmilla chuckled at the response.

“Who’s your favourite?” Laura realised her question was vague, “Painter I mean, who’s your favourite painter?”  She wanted to know everything about the woman, Carmilla was just so mysterious that Laura felt with each story the woman told her about herself, it was like reading a bestselling novel that she couldn’t put down now that she had started reading.

“Hester.” Carmilla’s answer was quick, she didn’t have to think about it.  “He paints what some of us can’t even imagine.” Laura stopped circling the patterns to listen.  “There’s a gallery near my apartment that showcases his work, it’s became a habit of mine to visit every Friday night.”

Laura smiled lovingly at the girl. 

“Maybe you could take me sometime.”

“Yeah,” Carmilla knew it would never happen but she let herself wander over the idea, “Sometime.  I’d like that very much.”

\---

The car sounded its horn twice before Laura realised her driver was waiting outside to drive her to the church.  Every part of her body was shaking furiously and she didn’t even know if she could stand let alone walk down a flight of stairs.

Carmilla sat defeated on the bed.  The argument had ended a few seconds before the car arrived and the girl knew her time was up.  She had given it all she had but it just wasn’t enough.  Laura was going to walk out that door any second and by twelve o’clock that day, she would be family.  Just not in the way Carmilla wanted her to be.

“Please come, Carm.” Laura stopped at the threshold of her bedroom door. “If not for me, for Will.  He still is your brother.”

Carmilla looked up at her, the tears finally breaking loose from their prison.

“I’ll be there.” Laura gave her the weakest half smile she could and turned to descend the stairs, Carmilla’s next sentence stopped her in her tracks just before she reached them, “But after today.  I never, _ever_ want to see you again.”

The words echoed around Laura’s body as she walked to the car, her father waiting patiently for her as he leant against the side of the door.  If it wasn’t for the look of sheer pride on his face, she would have lost it again.  She didn’t want to let him down, she couldn’t let him see her hurt.  This was her wedding day and she would be damned if it wasn’t perfect just like she planned it would be with her dad since she was a child.

“You look-“ Papa Hollis pulled her into a hug that almost suffocated his daughter but Laura didn’t mind, it was exactly what she needed.  “If your mother could see you.”

“She can dad.” Laura pointed her finger to the sky the way her dad used to do when she missed her second parent.  The little gesture was enough to set Mr Hollis off; they both shared the moment of mixed emotions before seating themselves inside the vehicle.  Once the wheels were rolling, Laura pulled herself together for the last time that day, she promised, and started to run her vows over in her head.

They drove around the same two blocks at least four times before Laura decided she was ready to head to the church.  Her dad held her hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze right as they pulled up at the venue. 

“Ready?” He asked as he fixed the bottom of her dress.  He wished she would ask for another minute so that he could spend a little more time with Laura Hollis, his baby girl, his daughter that he remembers so clearly needing him for everything.  He knew that once those rings were exchanged she wouldn’t be his baby anymore, she would officially be a grown woman who was starting a life of her very own, one where she would have her own baby who needed her for everything.

“I’m ready dad.” Laura smiled through every emotion that hung from her and watched as her father rounded the front of the car to open the door for her.  She latched on to his hand so tight that he was sure it would leave a mark once she let go.  She didn’t however until they reached the back doors of the church, only then was it did he link her arm through his and wait for the bridal march to start.

The wait wasn’t long, the doors opened and Laura could see her bridesmaids, Perry and two of her friends from school, waltz up the aisle before her.  Gabriel's Oboe played from the speakers around the church and when her feet moved without her consent from her father slowly pulling her from the spot, it seemed like everything was in slow motion. 

She took in the wedding guests that had all turned in their seats to audience her walking along the aisle, Laura’s eyes flickered around the room for a speck of dark black hair.  When she finally found it, she wished she hadn’t started searching because in that moment, she witnessed Carmilla Karnstein locking eyes with her for the final time before exiting the doors Laura had just walked out from.

Laura had to blink away the tears that formed in her eyes, not from the emotion of love she had for Will but from the sadness she felt watching the girl leave.  She had to turn her head to the front after having enough of watching the woman depart, Will’s back was to her and when he turned to see the woman he was about to marry approaching him, a dazzling white smile almost blinded the room.

Papa Hollis shook Will’s hand firmly when they eventually reached him and whispered a few words of fatherly warnings in his ear before patting him on the shoulder playfully, kissing his daughter on the forehead once and then handing her palm over to fit into Will’s.

“Dear friends and family, we are gathered here today to witness and celebrate the union of Laura and William in marriage. In the years they have been together, their love and understanding of each other has grown and matured, and now they have decided to live their lives together as husband and wife “

The ceremony had officially began, Laura knew she this was it.  She watched as Will turned his eyes between the male in front of them and his bride, each time they caught hold of each other, she pushed a smile on her lips.

"True marriage is more than joining the bonds of marriage of two persons; it is the union of two hearts. It lives on the love you give each other and never grows old, but thrives on the joy of each new day. Marriage is love. May you always be able to talk things over, to confide in each other, to laugh with each other, to enjoy life together, and to share moments of quiet and peace, when the day is done. May you be blessed with a lifetime of happiness and a home of warmth and understanding."

As each second passed, the only thing she could think about was the look on Carmilla’s face as she left the church.  It was nothing like she had seen before, the pain was completely wiped off every feature and utter hatred was put in its place.

"Please repeat after me" Laura was pulled from her head and back into the room where every set of eyes were on her.  "Do you Laura, take William to be your lawfully wedded husband, promising to love and cherish, through joy and sorrow, sickness and health, and whatever challenges you may face, for as long as you both shall live?”

Come on Hollis, you’ve practiced this moment a million times over.  You can do it.

You can do it.

Don’t think of Carmilla, for a few seconds, that’s all it will take for this to be over and done with.

“I do.”  Once they were out of her mouth, it was only then did she allow herself to breathe.

"And do you William, take Laura to be your lawfully wedded wife, promising to love and cherish, through joy and sorrow, sickness and health, and whatever challenges you may face, for as long as you both shall live?"

Will took a second to completely indulge himself in this moment.  He couldn’t believe he was finally getting to do this, to officially show the world that Laura Hollis was his and only his.

“I do.”

The priest gave the couple a moment to fully appreciate the vows they just took before continuing.

“The rings?” Kirsch stepped up as best man and took a box from his suit pocket, revealing two gold pieces of jewellery.

“Repeat after me once more,” The man turned to Laura first, “"I Laura, give you William,” She repeated the words like instructed, “this ring as an eternal symbol of my love and commitment to you."

She took the larger ring and began to wriggle it onto Will’s finger.  He helped her out a little bit when he realised her hands were shaking.

“And now William, I-“

“give you Laura this ring as an eternal symbol of my love and commitment to you."  Will almost tripped over the words as he rushed to get them out in the open.  A nervous laugh came from his mouth before he took the smaller ring and placed it on Laura’s finger.

"Wedding rings are made precious by our wearing them. Your rings say that even in your uniqueness you have chosen to be bound together. Let these rings also be a sign that love has substance as well as soul, a present as well as a past, and that, despite its occasional sorrows, love is a circle of happiness, wonder, and delight. May these rings remind you always of the vows you have taken here today."

They were so close, Laura could see the wedding reception in her head, she’d somehow managed to get through this.

"And now, by the power vested in me, I hereby pronounce you hus-“

"Stop!” a familiar voice rang through the church.

Laura turned desperately to face the crowd searching for the girl it came from; she’d come back for her.  Carmilla really had come back for her.  In that moment, she realised that she did regret this.  She regretted not leaving with Carmilla when she’d asked.  It was in that moment she realised that she had made the wrong decision in leaving her true love for her first love. 

It was only when she found the face that had stopped the ceremony, was she truly confused about anything.

“Don’t do this."

Natalie appeared from the crowd of wedding guests into the aisle, staring at Laura's fiancé. 

“Will I’m pregnant, I’m having your baby.” 

# 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayy! I hope I buried Will and Natalie's affair deep enough into the last couple of chapters that you guys didn't guess my plot twist, Will is same bad guy in this fic that he is in the actual series! If you wish to ask me anything on tumblr about this story, feel free to: coughinebrohaus.tumblr.com - Chapter Six announcement date will be posted there! I'm gonna start posting updates under #fau tag on tumblr (fiancé au)
> 
> P.s; do not listen to Gabriel's Oboe and think of Laura Hollis walking down an aisle, it's dangerous for the feels. 
> 
> (Also, thank you to in-anotherau-life.tumblr.com for helping me with this one, you're the best bud!)


	6. Chapter Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the aftermath

_I don't have much to give, but I don't care for gold_

_What use is money, when you need someone to hold?_

_Don't have direction, I'm just rolling down this road_

_Waiting for you to bring me in from out the cold_

Carmilla gripped the microphone so hard her knuckles turned white; her voice was rougher than usual as she sung into the piece of equipment.  Betty tried her best not to shoot questioning glances at Danny when she noticed the little falters in their lead singer’s voice when she sang the lyrics.  Anytime she did however manage to catch eyes with the drummer, Danny sat bored twiddling one of the drumsticks in her fingers. 

She was kinda pissed at Carmilla for bringing a song into the set list that didn’t include drums, she thought that it was an narcissistic attempt to push her even further backstage than she already was but this was the third night they’d performed the number and the red head couldn’t help but notice that each time they played the Sam Smith cover, Carmilla put something completely different into the music.

_You'll never know the endless nights, the rhyming of the rain,_

_Or how it feels to fall behind and watch you call his name_

Danny knew that Carmilla had been drinking before the set but that was nothing new, anytime they played a gig, the darker haired girl would always fill herself up with at least three whiskeys before getting on stage but since the band mate came back from her trip home, it took double to amount of alcohol to string a song from her throat. 

_Pack up and leave everything,_

_Don't you see what I can bring_

_Can't keep this beating heart at bay_

_Set my midnight sorrow free_

Neither Betty or Danny asked why their somewhat friend was angrier than usual these days, anytime she arrived to band practice her normal sarcastic mood was replaced with a demanding silence that was only swept away when they rehearsed their set.  The only real conversation that was had was when they discussed possible songs to change up their gigs. The first and last time Carmilla spoke up was when she included Leave Your Lover.  The group had their issues around the song but they thought it was best to let Carmilla have this one, she hadn’t asked for anything else and Betty was enjoying the practice room now that it was filled with music rather than arguments.

_I will give you all of me_

_Just leave your lover, leave him for me._

_Leave your lover, leave him for me._

Carmilla was glad that she had a stool beneath her, if it wasn’t for the solid wooden object she was sure her knees would have given in and collapsed when she sung the lyrics that caused her to recall the last moment she saw the girl she was singing about.  Watching her walk towards the lover Carmilla was so desperate for her to leave.

“Dude, what the hell was that?” Danny asked gently once she found Carmilla when she exited the stage quickly after the last song.  As much as she didn’t want to pry, it had been almost seven months of this behaviour and it was getting super annoying. 

“What?” Carmilla was hanging over a railing that lined the pavement outside the bar, lighting up a cigarette, something she found herself doing more and more often since she returned to New York.

“Whatever’s going on with you,” Danny ran a hand through her hair, “Would you be kind enough to sort it out because it’s seriously bringing us down.”

“Fuck you.” Carmilla’s insult was light and Danny was used to it by now, the giant sighed once before turning back inside and helping Betty pack up their equipment. 

The singer was left outside shivering in the January winter, every time she inhaled the smoke it burned the back of her throat but it was the only thing that helped her cope with the fact she was completely and utterly a mess.

The first week she returned home consisted of many nights out to the biggest club in the city where she drowned herself in pints of anything they would serve her.  Anytime she wasn’t there, she spent in her apartment with El, searching for a distraction from the invisible tattooed name that burned on her heart.

After two months of that routine, it was clear to Carmilla that it wasn’t working at all.  Each time she bedded her roommate, an uncontrollable force caused her to shut her eyes tightly and picture another mouth upon hers.  It caused her to imagine that the hands that touched her were someone else’s completely.  When she opened her eyes to find El, the disappointment shot her straight in the chest and most nights she had to drag herself from the sex scented bedroom into the bathroom where she would sit wrapped in her own sorrow and cry until her eyes turned blood red.

Seven months in and she found herself going home to an empty apartment each night due to her decision to live alone.  She couldn’t deal with having another person around her when she was going through one of the worst declines in her life and frankly, each time El opened the door when she came home from work, Carmilla’s heart pounded thinking that maybe, just maybe Laura had came back for her.  It was too much to cope with when El entered the living space instead of the tiny girl she hoped for.  Carmilla knew she had to go.

It was a Tuesday morning when she realised what she had to do.  After multiple attempts of trying to forget Laura Hollis, she decided it was time to face the couple she had left at the alter.  Maybe, if she saw her one last time, she could finally put her mind to rest.  Thinking about the husband and wife interact in their new found married life caused Carmilla to believe there was a possibility that maybe if she seen Laura happy and settled, she could walk away from her and move on with her own life.

Eleven O’clock hit and the flight was booked. 

“Time to face your demons, Karnstein.” She muttered under her breath.

\---

Laura was sure her feet were bleeding, the heels on her shoes were completely worn down and the back of the footwear had begun to rub against her ankle.  She’d ran for almost three miles, ignoring the looks of passing strangers who were gobsmacked as they watched a bride sprint past them, tears streaking her face.

Will had somehow managed to make it back to the house before her, most likely because he’d taken the car LaF used to drive Perry and them to the church.

“Laura, please.” Will begged when she entered the house and headed for their room.

“Get the hell away from me!” She pulled her arm from him when he tried to stop her from climbing the stairs.  She wasn’t even sure why she was angry, they had both cheated on each other yet here she was blaming him completely for an act she also took part in.

“Let me explain!” Will had manpowered his way into their room even though Laura took extra care to look the door tightly upon her entrance.   Kicking a door off its hinges was the least of Will’s worries then. “Laura, stop!” She had already begun to pack her things and fought against the man she almost married as he took each piece of clothing from the bag as she put them in.

“Fuck you.” Laura pushed his chest as hard as she could, total adrenaline took over her body due to the rage that fuelled her system.  “Fuck you Will!” She repeated the cuss word until it didn’t seem part of the English language anymore.

“Laura.” He took his chance to get a word in when she lost her breath.

“You know what,” She began packing again, Will didn’t try to stop her this time and thought it was best to hear what she had to say before stopping her from leaving, “You’ve just done me a favour.”

The man was confused; he reached over gently to touch her arm.  It was the wrong thing to do, she completely turned into the monster than possessed her a few seconds ago and started screaming again.

“I wasn’t going to leave you! I was going to stay, I was going to stay because I loved you first!” Will froze, he had no idea what Laura was talking about.  His almost-wife seen that he was startled by the phrase and somewhere inside her, a deep hatred grew for the man.  She began to speak with utter venom lacing her every word.

 “How does it feel, Will,” Laura began to edge towards him, her only intentions to hurt him the way that she knew she had hurt Carmilla, “Knowing that while you were screwing the maid behind my-,”

“Laura, I didn’t mean to hu-“

“While you where screwing the maid,” Laura stood dead in the spot, her face drained and emotionless, “I was fucking your sister.”

\---

The town was exactly as she left it.  Boring and dull.

As her cab drove past the bar she drank in the night she arrived, she closed her eyes tight thinking about the moment she insisted on using the toilet.  If she had of just held it in, things would have turned out so differently.  How embarrassing to think that a weak bladder was the reason she’d fucked things up. Yet here she was, paying a taxi driver forty-seven bucks for a twenty five minute drive back to her brothers house in the hopes that maybe she could fix things.

 “Have a nice day.” Carmilla punched a middle finger at the man who had just clearly ripped her off to an extreme extent. 

She stood at the side of the road willing herself to move towards the front door but each time, her legs screamed no.  The only thing she could do after five minutes was sit on the sidewalk and light up a cigarette.  She stared across the road at the house, wondering what they were doing in that moment.  Carmilla tried to imagine the look on Laura’s face when she opened the door to see Carmilla standing there, hoping that it would provide some sort of motivation to get the hell up and move her ass across the street.  It didn’t work.  In fact, it prevented her from budging even more.

Just as she flicked away the finished cigarette in her hand, the front door opened and out walked Natalie, a baby held in her arms.

Carmilla fumbled back on her hands and feet until she was able to stand and hide out of sight.  The nearest garden was the only place she could use as shelter.  Her whole body slumped over as she gripped her thighs for support, her breathing ragged and heavy.

They had a child, Laura had _his_ child.   No matter how much she knew it was going to happen one day, she didn’t expect it so soon.  

 “This was a mistake.” She thought, her head was spinning but she managed to begin to take four steps towards the main town in hopes of catching another cab back to the airport.

“Carmilla?” When she turned to face the voice, she found Will squinting his eyes to make sure that it really was his sister he was seeing stumbling along his street.  She had no choice but to face him, somehow her legs were able to carry her over the road and keep steady as she spoke.

“Hey.” An insulting pet name didn’t make its way to the forefront of her sentence when she greeted her brother, she didn’t have it in her to fight, even if it was intended to be harmless.

Harmless wasn’t in Will’s books then, without hesitation he slapped the girl with a mighty force. Neither of them knew he had it in him, Carmilla was almost taken off her feet but gravity was in her favour and she was able to recover.

“She told me everything.” Will spat the words out.

\---

“What?” His lip quivered and he felt his legs slowly begin to collapse.

Laura didn’t respond.  She knew he had heard what she’d said and turned to continue packing, it was one of the most awful things she had ever done in her life but she wanted to hurt him, she needed him to know how she felt standing at the top of an aisle and brutally embarrassed in front of all of her family and friends.  Her dad hadn’t stopped calling her in the past hour but she couldn’t answer him, not yet.

“You’re lying.” Will had seated himself on the edge of the bed, barely managing to hold himself up. “Carmilla wouldn’t do-“

“Well, she did.” Laura stuffed as much impact into her words as she could whilst continuing to throw her belongings into the suitcase.  “We did.” Her voice sunk to a whisper then when she realised what this meant.  Carmilla was gone thinking that she had just gotten married and there was nothing Laura could do about it.  She was the one who made the mistake of choosing Will over her, the mess of thoughts caused her to pack even quicker.

“My sister would never do that to me.” Will had found his energy again and turned to the girl who was accusing his sibling of something he believed she wouldn’t even contemplate.

The look Laura gave him however made him feel otherwise.  Something in her face told him that she was speaking the truth.  Rage fuelled him completely when he stood; taking out his phone he punched in a number and held the device to his ear pacing the room. 

Laura folded over the suitcase, zipped it up and sat it on the floor.  She completely ignored the man as she picked up the last shirt and pair of pants before heading to the bathroom to change out of the dress she had been so excited to wear three weeks ago. 

\---

“Will!” Carmilla almost screamed at her brother as he began to approach her again, “Calm down!”

“Calm down?” He scoffed, “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“I can explain!” Carmilla put both of her hands out to try and slow his feet down.  Her cheek still stung from the collision of his hand and she didn’t fancy another slap just yet.

“Explain? You’re going to _explain_ to me why you had sex with her?” Carmilla’s eyes flickered to the ground, Will took one step closer to her, “I’m waiting.”

“I didn’t mean for it to happen okay, it just did.” Carmilla met his eyes again, this time she felt herself begin to hold her position.

“You both deserve each other.”

They stood wrapped in tension for a few seconds before Natalie returned.

“Honey?” She looked between her boyfriend and Carmilla, understanding the reasons for the devil glares and bunched fists. “The car’s running, we’re going to be late.” She tugged gently on his arm and he allowed her to pull him towards the vehicle.

“Where is she?” Carmilla couldn’t help but ask, the way Natalie held Will caused her brain to run overtime with questions and that was the first one that popped out.

“New York.” Will drawled back at her, nothing but utter hatred buttering his voice. He had opened the door for Natalie and once she was safely inside, he turned back to his sister.  “You know, with all her talk of loving you, I thought you both would have been shacked up by now.”

Carmilla felt her palms grow sweaty.

“But hey, don’t feel bad.  It’s not the first time she’s lied about loving someone.”

With the statement, he pulled himself into the driver’s seat and the car sped off with such speed, Carmilla was convinced Will forgot there was a child in the back seat.  Laura’s child? It couldn’t be if-

Things began to click in her head and it occurred to her that maybe she’s missed a couple of things.

\----

“Well, how was it?” Perry asked, lying on top of the king-sized bed she shared with LaF.  Laura shrugged, her face dimly lit with the attempt of a smile. 

“It was good.” Perry moved closer to the camera, comically raising an eyebrow which caused Laura to let loose her lips and grin at her best friend.

“Good? Laura, you’ve been dreaming about this since the first day I met you and all you’ve got to say is ‘good’?” The new New Yorker laughed quietly before slapping her hands down on her knees, sighing out then resting both her arms on the desk in front of her own camera.

“It’s a lot harder than I expected.” She leant her head on one of her hands, chewing on her bottom lip.

“What else were you expecting? It’s The New York Times!” Laura rolled her eyes when she heard LaF shout across the room whilst they were brushing their teeth. “But if I know Laura Hollis, she can handle it.” They had made their way over to the webcam, toothbrush still hanging from their mouth, to give the girl the best pep talk they could manage.

“Yeah, yeah.” Laura smiled appreciatively at her friends before rolling back on her computer chair towards the little kitchen that fit snugly in the corner of her new apartment. “How about you guys, what’s the latest?” Laura had stood up now, fixing herself a cup of tea and waiting to find out all the new gossip.

“Well,” Perry began looking proudly at LaF, “ _Somebody’s_ parents agreed to come to the wedding.”

“No way!” Laura turned excitedly to the computer, forgetting she had a roasting kettle in her hands. “That’s great!”

“Mm-hm!” Both red heads looked ecstatic on the other end of the Skype call, “We got a phone call this morning.” Perry announced.

“Yeah, my grandma convinced them if they didn’t go that she wouldn’t cook thanksgiving dinner for them anymore.” LaF tried to shrug off the big fuss that was being made about their parents even though that’s all that went through their head since their cell phone hung up.

“And you? You’ve booked your flight, right?” Perry’s face turned into one of a concerned mom when she asked Laura.  Yes, her friend was organised but she was also forgetful and with everything that had happened in the past couple of months with Will, moving to a completely different city, a new job – Well, Perry didn’t know just how much Laura was telling the truth when she told her that she was coping alright.

“I leave on the twenty fourth Per,” Laura tilted her head to the side smiling, “Don’t worry.” She took her cup of green tea and walked back to the desk, pulling the chair underneath her to sit back down on. “I’ll call you guys tomorrow, okay? It’s like super late and the boss from hell gave me a six AM start tomorrow.”

“Oh, rough.” LaF sucked in a breath teasingly, “Tomorrow short stack.” Perry and them signed off with a wave.

\---

“Are you sure this is a good idea Perr? I mean, it was like a year ago? People move on, do other things.” LaF sat worriedly on the edge of the bed, watching their fiancé patiently wait for someone to answer on the other end of the phone.

“Shh.” Perry narrowed her eyes in warning at them and they flopped back onto the bed, once again letting their crazy red head do as she pleased.

“Hey!” Perry perked up once they answered, “I don’t know if you’ll remember but it’s Lola Perry and I was just wondering if-“

\---

“If everyone could stand on their feet for the newlyweds!” The announcement came from Mr Perry as he watched LaF and his little girl enter the room, hand in hand, their faces bright red yet bursting with happiness.  Laura jumped a little clapping her hands furiously.

The whole day was a mixed emotional ride for her, the church reminded her of her own almost wedding last year and the events that had taken place but the fact that her two best friends were finally joined as one in the eyes of the law allowed her to forget her own past and welcome the future. 

The speeches were beautiful.  Both Perry and LaF’s words caused tears to form in Laura’s eyes, the way they spoke so lovingly of each other and the way their eyes didn’t falter when they spoke, all of it was just too cute for Laura’s little heart to take.

“And we just want to thank our bestest friend in the whole world, Laura, for helping us organise today.  We couldn’t have done it without you.”  LaF and Perry both met eyes with the tiny girl and she squirmed happily under their gaze, raising a hand to her heart in return to the words.

Mr Hollis wrapped an arm proudly around his daughter and squeezed her tight.  He knew she was having a hard time and was concerned that a wedding wasn’t exactly what she needed right now but he loved the couple just as much as his daughter did, the two wouldn’t miss it for the world.

The catering was delicious but Laura needed air, the room was filled with chatter and she just needed a few moments to herself.  She took herself down from the reception room out onto the main front of the hotel that the wedding was held in.  The cool breeze felt soothing on her skin and she sat down beside two other wedding guests who had retreated for a smoking break.  She made polite conversation with them but was interrupted when the thudding footsteps of her father approached her.

“They’re having the first dance, c’mon!” He held a hand out for Laura to take and they both hurriedly made their way back upstairs.

_Oh, my love._

_My darling,_

_I’ve hungered for your touch,_

_A long, lonely time._

Shock took over her entire body in that moment, she couldn’t move.  Laura didn’t know if she was imagining it or if Perry had actually done this.

_As time goes by,_

_So slowly,_

_That time can do so much,_

_Are you still mine?_

Perry and LaF stood under a single spot light dancing to the music that was being created by three ladies on stage. Danny’s hands flung easily at the drums, Betty’s hands whipped up and down the neck of her guitar and Carmilla’s voice smacked Laura straight in the face. 


	7. Chapter Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where Carmilla and Laura have their reunion

“You really are a lightweight.”

“For your information,” Laura hiccupped, “I can handle my alcohol perfectly fine.”

“Sure you can cupcake.” Carmilla rolled her eyes and tried her best to wipe away the remnants of vomit from the edges of Laura’s mouth with some tissue paper.  Just as she finished polishing up the left side of her face, Laura’s head sunk forward and collided with Carmilla’s.

“Nuh-uh.” The dark haired girl instantly put a block of distance between them, standing back just enough that Laura’s head slumped down to her chest, “The last time I was stuck in a bathroom with a drunk Laura Hollis-“

“You fucked your life up,” Laura’s head snapped back and her drunken hands flew into the air dramatically, “You can say it, you _fucked_ your life up.  I fucked my life up and Will’s life up and everyone’s-“ Her ever-evolving high pitched rant was cut short when she felt the last of the seven whiskey’s she drank at the bar make their way up her throat.

Carmilla knew it was coming and quickly managed to grab hold of the girl’s hair while she leaned over into the sink and threw up. 

“God, I hate weddings.” The broodier of the two breathed out.

“Then why are you even here?” She didn’t notice Laura moving back into a sitting position before shrugging off her hands.

“Because the nobby nut’s paid me quite a lot of money.” It was matter of fact and dry of any sort of emotion.  Laura, even in her drunken state could tell that Carmilla was pissed.

“I don’t mean at the wedding, you jerk.” She took the time to fold her arms over her chest, “I mean here.  In this bathroom.  Taking care of me when there’s like a million other things you could be doing.”

“I don’t have time for this.” Carmilla sighed out and headed for the door.

“Time for what?” Laura called after her.

“Time for you trying to _fish_ out a conversation that isn’t going to happen right now.” Carmilla stopped in her spot, painfully trying not to turn back and face the girl she had been hoping to see yet desperately avoiding for the past year of her life.

“Right now.” Laura repeated her words, “Then we’ll have it tomorrow?”

“No, Laura.” Carmilla had already half opened the bathroom door and stayed true to keeping her gaze solely on the wall in front of her, “We already had the conversation.  You didn’t fuck your life up in a bathroom, you fucked your life up the morning you chose him.”

Her words lingered when she left yet Laura didn’t cry, she couldn’t feel anything to cry.  Her brain wasn’t functioning and it frustrated her that she couldn’t react to what was just thrown at her.  She willed her legs to move and run after Carmilla but they were too weak to listen.

“Laura?” After thirty minutes of sitting in solitude, a voice came from door, “Laura, is everything alright?” She recognised her dad’s worried tone and pulled every last drop of energy to reply to him.

“Yep!” She pulled herself together, jumped down from the sink and opened the door, “I was just fixing my make-up.” Edging past him, she made her way into the reception room and let her eyes scan for a flick of dark hair.  The search felt exactly the same way as it did when she was walking down the aisle, the same desperation to catch her eyes, the same hope that she would appear and say something.  It felt exactly the same as her wedding day when she watched Carmilla slip out the exit following two taller girls, cases in hand.

But if Laura Hollis knew one thing, it was to learn from your mistakes.

“Carmilla, wait.” Some sort of miracle managed to carry her and her fuzzy brain down a flight of stairs and out to the front of the hotel just in time to catch Carmilla loading her guitar into the back of the band’s rented van.

A trail of black hair turned to her, one hand slowly creeping into their pocket.  Carmilla brushed off Danny and Betty’s questioning stares whilst positioning herself against the side of the vehicle.

“I’m sorry, okay.” Laura had moved towards her, “You were right, I regret it.  I should ha-“

“Say that again.”

“I’m sorry?”

“No,” Carmilla smirked, her free hand pulling out a pack of cigarettes and taking one from the box, placing it in her mouth. “The other part.” She lit it up.

“I regret it.”

“Closer, but no.”  She inhaled the smoke and blew it out, the distance between the two of them allowing the fumes to brush against Laura’s nose.

“You were right.”

“There we go!” Her smirk grew with her fake peppy tone.

Laura took the look on her face as an invitation to close the gap but Carmilla put her hand and disallowed it, her face completely shifting in less than a second.

“You kissed me, you led me on then you broke my heart.” She pulled the cigarette to her lips looking away from the confused girl in front of her, when she turned back to speak it was only then did she begin to move towards the door of the van, taking one last draw of the cigarette, “How does it feel to be rejected?”

“Carmilla please.” Laura’s eyes were begging, her body was begging, her mouth was begging, everything was begging the woman to stay and just hear her out.

“Goodbye Laura.”  Only then, did Laura feel herself being able to cry.  Her brain had begun to work again and it immediately processed the last hour of the night.  It didn’t shut off, even when she got back to the hotel and tucked herself into bed.  Although she had been able to wipe her face clean and return the wedding party, seemingly fine, the minute her head hit the pillow, the tears came flooding and they didn’t stop.

\---

“Seriously?” Carmilla stood at the mic with one hand on the stand and the other resting on her hip, watching Danny with a judgemental look that couldn’t be ignored.

“What?” The drummer looked up, eyebrows furrowed and shrugged off Carmilla’s eyes, “He’s cute.”  She returned to her phone and finished off the text that was about to be sent half way across the country.

“He’s an oversized idiot,” Carmilla rolled her eyes before letting them fall back to Danny and smirking, “Oh wait, I guess you two would be perfect.”

“Ha ha,” Danny plugged the phone back into her pocket and picked her drumsticks back up, “Shut up and sing.”

“Who made you my boss?”

“Jesus Christ, shut up.” Betty finally cracked and decided enough was enough, “It’s a Friday night and I really would like to spend it anywhere other than with you two, so if we could just finish this up, that’d be great.”

“Whatever.” Carmilla turned back to the microphone and counted the group in.  The rest of the rehearsal went without further arguments.  They fixed up their set list, taking out “Leave Your Lover” for the first time in thirteen months.  Carmilla insisted it wasn’t ‘the crowd going’, whatever her reason Danny didn’t care, those three minutes on stage bored the hell out of her. 

“I vote for Jesse’s girl.” Danny put the opinion in.

“No.” Carmilla quickly dismissed it, there was no way in hell she was going to sing about wanting a guy’s girl when she already lived it.

“Come on, it’s a classic.” Danny groaned.

“No.”                                                

“Alright,” She tilted her head to the side, “Although doesn’t seem like you’re having any bright ideas.”

“Paloma Faith?” Carmilla looked over to Betty, knowing it she loved the singer and watched as her face lit up. 

“You think you can manage a Paloma song?” Danny was doubtful, Carmilla’s voice was tender and taking on songs that Faith belted on a daily basis would be difficult with someone of who sings Angus and Julia stone in their free time.

“The song has drums Xena, shut up. You concentrate on your half, I’ll do mine.” Carmilla headed over towards the desk setup in the room and quickly googled the sheet music to their cover song, once three copies printed out, she distributed the pieces of paper to the girls and they gave it a shot.  Surprisingly, the first try turned out to be a success.

“Not bad.” Danny was surprised that it actually sounded good.

“Well, it was lovely but time’s up and I’ve got somewhere else to be,” Betty had her guitar packed up in less than a minute and found her way to the door, “I’ll pick you both up next Friday so please be ready this time.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Danny was close to following her when she stopped to have one last painful word with Carmilla. “Thanks for getting your shit together Karnstein.”  It was true, recently there were no sessions of the typical broody strops or the lack of enthusiasm.  For the past two weeks, Carmilla was back to herself almost.

“You have three seconds to leave the room or I’ll light you the same colour of your hair.” Carmilla’s tone was playful; she even almost smiled at the girl.  Just before Danny took her orders, she blew out a quick, “Thanks for telling me to, boss.”

“See you Friday asshole.”

\---

This is an awful idea Hollis, like the worst idea you’ve ever had. 

Laura paced her bathroom floor, occasionally stopping to check if her hair had budged out of place, there was no way she was going to let it move if she paid for a hairdresser to style it.  Maybe it was a little excessive but she wanted to look good, she wanted to impress and if it cost her fifty bucks, then so be it.

“Be cool, Laura.” She tried to look herself dead in the eye in the mirror to give herself a pep talk but it was no use, her entire body was shaking and all attempts to smooth out her nerves was pointless.

“Is this too much?” She found herself, ten minutes later, on a skype call with Perry.  “Like, I don’t want it to look too much.”

“It looks great! Calm down,” Perry was huddled up on her couch, LaF nowhere to be seen, Laura assumed they were most likely hanging out with JP, ‘nerd’ she allowed herself to think for a split second, “Your outfit won’t even matter. Just take a breath,” Perry took one herself whilst Laura mimicked her, “Let it out,” they both exhaled, “Go get your keys and have a good time, okay.”

“Okay,” Laura shook her body a little before sharing many thanks to her friend and exiting the call. “Have a good time,” She whispered to herself, “I can do that.”

The drive didn’t take long before she arrived at the venue.  It was a little more remote than she thought but she was kinda glad that it wasn’t stuck out on the main streets, it just meant that if this ended badly, she could run back to her car and cry without anyone seeing her.

Once inside, she was greeted by a middle-eastern young man who took her coat and guided her towards the room she would spend the next hour in.  It was completely empty, she knew it would be because she was told to be there twenty minutes early but still, it gave her chills and only made her more self conscious. 

The same man directed her to a side room and it was there that she realised this really was a mistake.  A crazy idea that got completely out of hand.  She contemplated making a run for it, just before she did, the woman she spoke with on the phone appeared.

“Laura, right?” She was completely intimidating, there was no way a five foot girl would get past her.

“Yep, me, Laura.” Oh my god, if this wasn’t embarrassing enough now there’s that brutally awful introduction to add to the list of things Laura wished she hadn’t done.

The woman only laughed.

“Are you alright?” She raised an eyebrow and her face changed into an expression that somehow managed to calm the tiny girl down yet also flush her cheeks. “You can back out, you know?” Laura’s head begged her to take the offer and get the hell out of there but something about cancelling in privacy and cancelling in public made her shrug it off.

“I’m fine, sorry.  It’s just the first time I’ve ever done this.”

“We get that a lot, there’s some water and things in there if you need it before hand.” Laura ‘hmm’ed, “Relax, I think you’ll really enjoy it.”

Well at least that made one of them.

Twenty minutes passed and Laura had ‘prepared’ herself.  The second she heard the knock on the door was the second she admitted to herself that she would never, ever, do anything on instinct ever again and always take LaF’s advice over Perry’s _‘totally go for it!’_.

Her hand gripped the door knob and slowly opened it.

In front of her sat a single stool in the middle of the room with at least twenty art students surrounding it, one of those art students being Carmilla.

\---

Carmilla almost choked on the sip of water she just took as she watched Laura Hollis emerge from the side room, she almost choked on actual air when she had to sit and watch her peal off the silk robe that had covered her body. 

“You have sixty minutes.” The artist that led the life drawing session instructed the group.

It took every ounce of willpower Carmilla had to take her eyes off Laura and to the canvas in front of her.  This was going to be the most painful sixty minutes of her life, not to mention it was made even harder due to the smooth jazz that played from her headphones.  This was not the setting she imagined herself in when she signed up for the class.  Before even daring to put a brush to the paper, she instantly changed Luther Johnson to the heaviest metal she had on her phone.

Once she commenced with her drawing, she tried her best not to meet eyes with the model.  To be frank, she didn’t really need to.  She had memorized every part of Laura’s body each time they were allowed to lie naked with one another, the first time they made love in the cabin or the time they shared a shower, each moment Carmilla was given to embrace the girl, she took.

“Twenty five minutes left guys.” The woman paced the room, taking in the interpretations of the girl she hired.  When she got to Carmilla’s painting, she raised an eyebrow.  On the canvas, Laura was painted and perfectly so, yet unlike the other students, this girl had painted her with such an aggressive nature it was hard not to notice the harsh lines that outlined the model’s body or the cold eyes that weren’t anything like the innocent ones that the instructor had noticed Laura had.

“Interesting.” She hummed quietly.

“Finished.” Carmilla abruptly slapped down her brush, picked up her coat and slammed down the payment for the class on the table beside the door she exited.

Laura watched this happen and felt herself wanting to bounce off the stool she was stiff sitting on.  She knew it was impossible; there was a massive group of people relying on her to sit still.  She knew this idea wasn’t going to go down well but she had to give it a try, some part of her mind truly believed that if she gave Carmilla any indication that she could be vulnerable to her, as much to say sorry, then she would do it. 

“Alright, time’s up.” The words were music to Laura’s ear and she instantly took herself to the side room to loosen up her muscles and put some clothes on.  When she re-entered the main room, the instructor greeted her with a smile and a handful of cash as payment for the lesson.  After a few polite refusals, Laura took the money, thanked the woman and left.

Just as she was fumbling in her bag for her car keys, a rough grip took its place on her arm and she was jerked into the side ally that was right beside the building.

“So, you’re officially fucking crazy.” Carmilla faced her, her features proving to still suffer from the shock of the last hour.  Laura’s heart was beating so fast that she was rendered silent. “How the hell did you find me?” Carmilla knew Laura was there for her, she knew the second that she watched the girl search the room frantically, her eyes only resting with they found her own.

“What?” Laura didn’t want to admit that she did in fact go to a lot of measures to seek the woman out.  “I didn’t do that for you.” She fixed her coat from Carmilla’s grip and puffed out her chest.  It didn’t work, the girl seen right through her and Laura deflated again, “You lied to me.”

“I lied to you?” Carmilla wanted to laugh but she was so confused by Laura’s statement that she raised her eyebrow and gave the girl to continue further her explanation.

“You told me that you went to Hester’s gallery every Friday night,” Carmilla’s urge to laugh became stronger, “So I visited the place, and you weren’t there.  Then I seen the signup sheet for the class and you’re name was on it and when I rang they thought I wanted to model and I guess I just agreed and-“

“Crazy, you’re actually insane.” Carmilla put a hand to her head and bit on her bottom lip to suppress the laughter that was about to fire out of her mouth, she was fuming at Laura’s attempts to try and slither her way back into her life but at the same time, this was the most _adorable_ thing she’d ever seen in her life and definitely the most hilarious.  The way her nose was bunched up when she tried to make the story sound a little less stalkerish and totally normal was cute, Carmilla admitted internally.

“I’m not insane!” Laura prayed that someone would open the ground because she needed to be swallowed up in that moment, this was the most humiliating thing that has ever happened to her, and that says a lot because she was part of the armature mime club in school. “It’s just, first you told me you never wanted to see me again and I respected that, totally but then at the wedding, and you were so sweet and I just-“

“Laura.”

“I just wanted to talk to you.” Tears formed and Laura begged them not to fall.

Carmilla sighed and turned her back, hoping that if she took a second to look at something other than the girl in front of her, she could clear her mind and walk away like she promised herself she would do if anything like this ever happened.

“How do you like your eggs in the morning,” Carmilla turned back because she was one hundred percent positive that Laura had just burst out in song, “I like mine with a kiss.  Boiled or fried, I’m satisfied, as long as I get my kiss.” Okay, so she was actually singing.

“Laura, what are you doin-“

“I’ve got to have my love,” She didn’t know why she started it but now Laura stood, her arms awkwardly stuck out slightly from her sides and singing in the most awkward voice that could humanly exist.

“Laura.”

“How do you like your eggs in the morning, I like min-“

“Laura!” Carmilla physically couldn’t hold it in any longer, the laughter rolled out of her mouth and streams and she doubled over whilst Laura silenced herself, gently beginning to join in.

“I heard you sing it, the morning in the cabin.” She explained her reason for the sudden Dean Martin outburst. “I don’t know why I just done that, I’m sorry.”

Carmilla calmed herself down and wiped the tears that had been flung from her eyes to her cheeks.  She shook her head once and sighed out a breath, a genuine smile still on her face.

“If you wanna talk, we can talk on Friday.” After allowing herself one look over the tiny human, she began to walk away, “If you’re a real Time’s journalist, you’ll know where to find me.”

“What?” Laura thought about following her to just ask her for a time and place but she decided the agreement of a real conversation was enough.

“Friday Hollis.” The girl called back and then in a matter of seconds, Carmilla started to turn into a fading figure in the distance.

“Friday.” She whispered to herself before getting into her car, “What the hell is Friday?” She’d let her brain work on overtime today, figuring it was best to give it a break she promised herself to start some serious research in the morning, giving herself two days to decipher the girl’s location.  The car engine roared and the journey home began.


	8. Chapter Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The conversation that doesn't really happen

“Friday.” She thought as she took in the large venue that was hosting the Summer Society’s gig. 

After about six or seven hours of googling Carmilla’s name, Hester, the name of her favourite book convention, Laura remembered the band and once she typed the name into the search bar, low and behold “SUMMER SOCIETY ROCKS THE BLUES TAVERN FRIDAY 30TH!”

Laura had no idea how she would be able to have a conversation with the girl if all night she was stuck in the back of a packed out pub with no way of manoeuvring to the front of the crowd.

“Ladies and Gentlemen,” The tall redhead that was the drummer took place at the front of the stage, the crowd roaring at her presence, “We are Summer Society.” The pub exploded with cheers and hoots, mostly from middle aged men and young girls who were clearly fixated on the gorgeous dark haired figure that took over Danny’s position when she moved back to her drums.

“This first one is a cover,” Carmilla’s voice was husky and compelling, “of one of our favourite artists.” Laura watched as she took a quick glance over her shoulder and nodded to Danny to count them in.

_I tell myself you don’t mean a thing_

_And what we got, got no hold on me_

_But when you’re not there,_

_I just crumble._

Laura was pushed and thrown all over the place by people flooding in the door, she couldn’t help being shoved around because Carmilla’s voice froze her inhibitions to move.  Her legs turned weak just from the sneaky moments of eye contact that they had, even though it was difficult, Carmilla still managed to find Laura’s eye’s over the crowd of two hundred.

It went like that for every song, Laura stood glued to the spot while Carmilla caused her heart to pound out of her chest when she smirked at her or sang a line directly at her.  Every song seemed to match them perfectly, if it was a love song, or a fuck you song or both, everything made Laura think of nothing but the singer on stage and the history they shared.

Any gig they’d done in the past year, when Carmilla sung, she imagined singing to Laura.  Telling her everything she felt via the music that was coming out of her mouth and now that it was happening, the Paloma number was a breeze.  All the passion and hatred and anger and love turned into belting high notes that bounced perfectly throughout the room causing the entire place to go mad with excitement.

The next two hours fly by, it was almost as if Laura had blinked and suddenly the band were bowing whilst the crowd chanted their name.

It was only out of luck that Carmilla was able to get Laura’s attention over the heads of the audience and nod toward the bar, Laura understood and made her way to the counter where had to practically shout to the bartender to order and gin and tonic just before Carmilla met her.

“I’ll have a beer, thanks.” The bartender sat down the brunette’s order and began to pour the singers request.

“You were amazing,” Laura gushed after taking a tiny sip of her drink, “I knew you were good, but that was, wow.”

“What can I say?” Carmilla took a sip of her own drink, “I’m talented.” Laura looked to her, eyes wide unable to make out that she was joking with her, when she realised she let out a laugh and hip-checked the woman beside her.

“You said we could talk.” She didn’t want to push the subject but the fact that they were shouting over a mass of people just to converse in the stupidest set of dialogue gave her the feeling that having a real conversation would be difficult.

“You talk too much sweetheart,” Carmilla smirked, this time taking a large gulp of her beer.  When she looked back to Laura, instead of speaking, she took the girls hand and followed the crowd that was now moving past the stage through a set of double doors.

When the two of them entered the room with the crowd, Laura found herself in what seemed to be a hidden club behind the small room of the tavern.  The UV paint on the walls lit the place up along with beams of strobe lights and a massive disco ball that hung from the ceiling.  Just as she was about to ask how the hell something like this was marketed behind a small pub, music blared from the speakers and the crowd erupted once more.

Carmilla was pulled by the corner of her shirt into the middle of the dance floor and she made no hesitation to drag Laura with her. 

They spent hours dancing to the rhythm of the music, sometimes trance, other times jazz, and the occasionally modern pop tune.  No matter what played, somehow Carmilla knew the words or the beats which vigorously infected Laura to keep moving.

“I need like, just five minutes.” Laura had broke free of Carmilla’s dancing spell and was making her way towards the front doors for some much needed air.  The darker hair girl followed along with her, deciding that a nice breeze would recharge her system.

They both made the right choice because once the 2AM wind hit their faces, every muscle relaxed and their lungs felt reborn. Laura rested back against the cold brick wall of the Tavern whilst Carmilla aimlessly wandered around the pavement.

“How come you didn’t come find me sooner?” The darker haired girl asked, leaning her back against the railing on the opposite side of the wall and staring at Laura with nothing other than curiosity in her eyes.

“You told me you never wanted to see me again.” The girl shrugged.

“And you believed me?”

“You were pretty convincing.” Carmilla ‘hmm’ed before turning around and leaning her arms on the metal bars, staring out to the road.  Laura moved forward to take place beside her.

“How come you didn’t come find me?” She asked quietly, a little unsure of how the question would go down.

“I did.” Laura was completely taken aback at the answer.

“You did?”

“Yep.” Carmilla turned for the third time to her original position, her spine hurting a little supporting her weight against the bars. “But I found a baby, and Natalie and a very angry brother who forgot that hitting girls is a bad thing.”

“What? He hit you?” Laura pulled herself up straight to stare at Carmilla, she couldn’t believe he’d do such a thing and yes, she was angry at him but at the same time, this rush of feelings was pouring into her veins at the fact _Carmilla had went back for her_.

“Nothing I couldn’t handle cupcake,” Carmilla tilted her head up slightly and smirked, “What got me was that when I went back to the house, I found Will playing happy families with the maid rather than you.”

“Yeah,” Laura laughed once extremely awkwardly, rubbing the back of her neck, “Turns out that we weren’t the only bad guys after all.”

“Mhm,” Carmilla’s eyes watched for any sign of sadness in Laura, none appeared which she was sort of glad about, “Perry told me.”

“Oh,” Laura hugged her arms into her chest, “Wait, so you knew at her wedding?”

“I knew what?”

“You totally knew,” A light bulb had went off in her head and Laura’s lips turned into a smirk, one that matched any of Carmilla’s perfectly, “You knew that I was _single_ at the wedding and _that’s_ why you came after me in the bathroom.” Each time she emphasised a word, her smirk turned into a playful smile.

“Oh come on.” Carmilla tried to brush the accusation off but Laura kept it coming.

“I saw you before I went in, you were completely on the other side of the room packing your stuff up.  You saw me and you followed me because _you_ wanted to talk to _me_.” The playful expression turned into a proud grin, as if she’d just cracked a case.

“That’s not what-“

“You’re totally crazy.” Both girls were close to laughter at this point, the air was light and it was the first time since the morning of Laura’s almost wedding that she felt a little bit normal with Carmilla.

“Shut up.” Carmilla stood, her tone just as playful as the atmosphere sliding her hands in her pockets.

“Make me.” It wasn’t supposed to come out like that, Laura thought as she bit her bottom lip. It was supposed to add to the joke.

Carmilla didn’t know what it was meant to sound like but no matter what; the flirtatious implement of the sentence turned the atmosphere to one that they both recognised from their week long affair.

“There you are,” Danny looked flustered and extremely pissed, “Hi.” She politely greeted Laura before starting her rant prepared for Carmilla whilst completely ignoring the fact that the air was tinged with nothing but sexual tension, “Betty’s waiting in the van, she’s getting angry.”

“I’ll be there in a second, God.” She turned back to Laura, “Sorry, I gotta-“

“Yeah, yeah. No worries.” Laura stood back, nodding understandingly.

“I’ll call you.” Carmilla left her with a promise that Laura didn’t know if it was real or not, either way she didn’t have time to ask because the two members of the band had disappeared from the pavement and she was left alone to process exactly what ‘conversation’ the two of them had tonight.

\---

“Stalker ex?”

“Nope.”

“Crazy fan?”

“Nope.”

“One night stand?”

“No.”

“Are you da-“

“Jesus Christ, can you just not speak? Your voice grates on me.” Carmilla lost it; she couldn’t take Danny’s questions anymore.

“You’re really not gonna tell us who she is?” Danny knew she was _someone_ , it was no coincidence that she’d seen what looked like two pretty intense conversations between the women in two different cities.  It’s impossible.

“You wanna know who she is?” Carmilla stopped plugging in an amp and turned to the taller girl, “Alright,” She stood up and faced her, “She’s none of your fucking business.” Danny scoffed as Carmilla resumed turning on the equipment.

“Whatever.”

\---

“I honestly can’t believe this is happening right now.” Laura hummed excitedly.

“Cheers,” Perry lifted a glass and the other two met it with a clink of their own, “To the future.”

“The future.” LaF and Laura repeated, each of them looking to each other with smiles on their faces that no one could wipe off in that moment.

“Who would have thought that we’d end up here?” LaF slumped down on the couch, blowing out a breath and sliding their arm around Perry’s shoulders when she joined them.

No one would have thought that Perry would have allowed LaF to buy the house, New York was so far from both of their families and so far from everything that Perry had deemed normal and acceptable, the decision was a shocking one but one that definitely felt right as they sat with the two most important people in their lives in a cosy uptown house in Manhattan.

“This is going to be amazing,” Laura squealed with joy, “I have to show you this little bakery just down the road, it’s so much nicer than what they have back home and the decorations on the-“

The conversation began to flow and the group planned all the outings they would have now that they lived barely twenty minutes from each other.  They conversed about LaF’s new job and Perry’s plans for children, how New York was the perfect place for any kid to grow up in because of the opportunities it held.

At one point, Perry had taken out the laptop and opened up an IKEA page to show Laura the new furniture she planned to buy to spice the place up a little.

“I’m thinking black, red and white.” The red head girl pointed to the coloured themed objects that fitted her dream for the place.

“I can’t wait to see it when it’s finished, Perr.” Laura nodded enthusiastically at all the comments and suggestions that the girl gushed out.

“Hopefully we can have it set up in time for the party.” LaF added to the conversation as they poured themselves out another glass of wine.

“Party?” Laura looked between them and Perry.

“I would rather have a social gathering but-“

“No way, house warming parties are essential for new homes babe.” LaF cut her off and received a tight browed look from their wife.

The three then started on the topic of the event that would be anything other than a ‘social gathering’.  LaF had invited their new buddies from work, they claimed it would be a perfect opportunity to get to know the tech squad.  Perry had invited a few of her old school friends that also lived in the city.

“And Carmilla.” Perry added under her breath.

“What?” Laura’s eyes widened at the name and her head whipped towards her ginger friend.

“Yeah,” The girl laughed awkwardly and was almost able to start her explanation when LaF cut in again.

“She’s trying setting you two up,” They resumed their position on the couch and sipped at the wine once, “Hence the wedding singing and the attempts to befriend the ice queen.”

“That’s not true, Carmilla is very nice.”

“Perr.” LaF gave her a disbelieving look that their partner simply shrugged off.

“You don’t have to do that, honestly.” Laura tried her best to act flattered; she appreciated the effort and didn’t have the heart to tell her friends that their plan was failing miserably, well, kinda. 

She didn’t really know what was going on with Carmilla then.  Sometime between the wedding and now, their relationship had gone from ‘I fucking hate you’ to ‘I maybe don’t hate you that much anymore’.   Either way, the foundations were extremely rough right now and Laura knew that any advancement further than friendship would be stomping on territory that was extremely dangerous.

“Do you not want her to be there?” Perry chewed on her bottom lip nervously.

“I think it’s for the best.” Laura put a hand over her friends and squeezed it once gently, trying her best to say thank you for the kind thought.

“Well,” LaF spoke up, “I’m not gonna be the one to call her and cancel the plans.”

“Wait,” Laura almost choked on her own drink, “You’ve invited her already?”

“I just thought that with her music and things she’d be busy, you know?” The explanation for Perry’s nervous behaviour became clear as she started to shake out some words, “I wanted to tell her in advance In case she had plans.”

Laura ran a hand through her hair; it had been almost three weeks since she last saw the girl and even though the words ‘I’ll call you.’ were spoken, not one phone call had been made.  She felt that now Carmilla knew she’d went through some lengths to get in contact with her, lengths that brought her into a art class stark naked, any other crazy ideas to spark up another meeting would lead to another extremely embarrassing situation.

“Do you still want me to cancel?” Perry’s voice threw Laura out of her thoughts and back into the conversation.

“No, no.” She sighed, covering the expression with a smile, “It’s fine.  She’ll probably not even show up.”

Laura hoped with everything that she had that Carmilla would in fact show up.

\---

“You’re kidding,” Danny’s mouth hung open as she held the phone to her ear, “Yeah, yeah. No totally, we’ll be there.” The conversation ended as quickly as it started and when she hit the end call button, she stood on the spot completely speechless. 

“Who was that?” Betty asked from the back of the rehearsal room.

“You’re never going to believe me.”

\---

“Hey!” Laura stepped into the house she had barely left in the past two weeks as Perry wrapped her arms around her neck.  The tinier girl handed over a bottle of wine and some flowers before LaF could run over and give her a rougher embrace than their wife’s. 

The couple spent the first ten minutes introducing the brunette to the guests at the party before Perry escorted her into the kitchen.

“They seem nice.” Laura smiled as the red head stood against the island, tapping her fingers against the marble worktop. “Everything alright?” She quirked an eyebrow.

“I’ve burnt the mini sausages, we’re almost out of champagne and I’m pretty sure someone stole soap from the bathroom.” Her voice became increasingly higher as she ranted, trying her best to keep the tone quiet so that the party goer’s didn’t notice her panic.

Laura rubbed the side of her arm as an attempt to calm her friend down, she thought that everything seemed fine and if she, a sober and alert guest, believed that it was a pretty supplied event then surely the other thirty odd drunken and non-observant guests would too.

The reassurance worked slightly and Perry took in a breath, held it, and then let it out again.  In the five seconds she took to do it, she noticed Laura’s eyes trying to search the faces in the living area.

“She’s not here yet.” Perry smiled apologetically as if it was her fault that Carmilla was late.

“I’m not here for her,” Laura brushed off the disappointed look on her face and grinned broadly, “I’m here because you’ve got a brand new house and the red, black and white design looks perfect.”

Perry’s expression mimicked Laura’s and they found themselves falling into an in-depth discussion about silk curtains.

“Babe,” LaF popped their head around the kitchen door, “Do you have a second? I want to introduce you to Parker.” Perry excused herself from the curtain conversation and made her way into the living room.

Laura turned to the oven and realised that Perry was about to burn another set of mini sausages so she took it upon herself to take them out.  Once the food was plated and ready to be eaten, she realised she was now standing alone amongst people who looked extremely engrossed in their own conversations.

She thought about finding one to include herself in but decided to have one last look around the house, just in case a certain someone had graced the company with their presence.  After checking almost every room twice, it became apparent that the invitation had been declined or ignored, who knows when it comes to Carmilla Karnstein, the girl who says she’ll call and then doesn’t.

“Where’s Laura?” The brunette heard Perry’s voice coming from downstairs and she made her way out from the upstairs bathroom to the landing, “Laura?”

“Up here.” Perry’s eyes found her and she looked like she had just seen a ghost, words failed her mouth and instead she beckoned her tiny friend down the stairs to follow her into the living room.

“Look,” Perry grabbed the remote and pointed it towards the flat screen television that was planted in the middle of the living room, turning the volume up to the maximum limit.

“Up next, brand new music from Ed Sheeran, David Guetta,” The screen flipped from one that flashed promo’s of the famous artists to one that showed an MTV interviewer standing in front of three familiar faces, “And I’ll have the latest from the break out band of the month, Summer Society.”

An advert took over the forty inch screen whilst Laura’s eyes remained wide and her head began to fill with thoughts she couldn’t even process due to the shock that had taken over her body, something that was happening more and more often these days and all because of one girl.

“Looks like she had somewhere else to be.” LaF spoke, almost as frozen as the two girls beside them.

\---

“Holy shit!” Betty was bouncing on the spot, her body pumping with adrenaline. “Holy. Fucking. Shit.” She had Danny by the arms of her shirt and was shaking her back and forth.  The three girls stood outside the studio where they had just given their first ever live television performance, something that none of them seen coming and all were pretty sure they weren’t ready for.  Either way, their phones were buzzing with notifications from their social media sites and relatives, all of whom were congratulating them. 

The only phone that remained silent was Carmilla’s.  Her devise was as quiet as she was, as much as she was over the moon at the fact that her band and her music was now world known, she couldn’t shake off the reason for their success.

\---

“It’s nice to finally meet you girls,” A bald headed man sat the head of the table, a napkin folded over his lap as he spoke to the band that had accepted his invitation to dinner.  “As a formality, those envelops hold contracts that you’re going to need to sign before the show.”

Carmilla gripped the brown piece of paper in her hand as her knee bounced with anticipation.  Only three days ago they were a struggling New York girl group who found it difficult to book a gig that paid them more than five hundred bucks, now they were sitting at a table in the fanciest restaurant in the city with the CEO of XL Records.

“As soon as we’ve got that covered, we can start with the promotion, recording, the usual.” He picked up a knife and fork and began to eat the food that was put in front of him, Danny tried to do the same but her brain pushed out words and sentences that sounded completely idiotic due to her hyper mood.

“I just want to say thank you sir-“ She blurted out.

“No need to thank me, it was-“

“Oh, no need to thank me either,” The empty chair that each of them had noticed at the start of the night was pulled out and filled with a slender figure. “I’ve never seen my daughter play music before and after your performance at the Blues Tavern well,” Mrs Karnstein looked lovingly at the girl seated at the bottom of the table, “I just knew my little girl had to become a star.”

“It was my wife.” The man finished his previous sentence.

“Sorry I’m late honey.” Carmilla’s stomach dropped as she watched a woman she hadn’t seen in years lean over and kiss the cheek of the man that was now, not only her manager but her step-father.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayyy, I'm so thankful for the lovely responses to this story! Thank you all for reading, I love reading your comments. If you have any questions about this AU, you can ask me on my tumblr, coughinebrohaus.tumblr.com or any posts made on tumblr can be tagged on #fau #carmilla fau 
> 
> I read them all, I promise and try my best to answer all your questions. I also post updates on when the next chapters will be out on my tumblr! Chapter nine will be out in the middle of this coming week.
> 
> Again, thanks so much for reading and let me know your thoughts on this chapter!

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you guys think!


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